forget about life for a while [closed]

[tidesnpc]

Characters: Anyone on the Convoy
Content: This is the closest thing to an Amicus party the Convoy will have. Anyone who wants to drink to celebrate the holiday is more than welcome, but drowning your sorrows is all right, too.
Setting: The Convoy's mess hall
Time: Amicus, evening and into the night
Warnings: Alcohol use, plus whatever the

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[find_my_truth]

Souji didn't normally drink, the time he'd taken more then a social sip countable on one hand. But... the last 24 hours made drinking seem more and more attractive.

He wasn't drunk, and common sense was making him take it slow, but perhaps he was leaning against the mess hall wall a little more then a man with complete control of his balance.

[find_my_truth]

"That long..." he muttered, shaking his head in awe. Now that the anger that he usually kept in such good control was gone, there was only worry and fear for what all this could mean. Souji looked at the stump of his cousin's half missing arm, eyes wide and shiny.

"And that...?"

[edge_of_honor]

Edgeworth caught the look in Souji's eyes and quickly glanced away.

"...consider it a souvenir," he said quietly. "I..."

He sighed, and said, "I tried to do an investigation on behalf of a friend, and stumbled into something else entirely. This was the result."

[find_my_truth]

"Miles... you should have called me, I would've helped, something." He knew the plea was pointless, but in his booze clouded mind it had to be said, regardless.

[edge_of_honor]

"No, I couldn't have," he snapped, his voice harsh once more. "You-"

He stopped himself immediately, his eyes wide, surprised at himself for his sudden burst of anger. Edgeworth sighed and, now a calmer, now a little sadder, said, "I didn't want you to become a target."

[find_my_truth]

Souji's eyes slitted, and he was close to snapping right back... but that sad tone to Edgeworth's voice stopped him. In the end, he would have done the same thing.

"I'm not a child anymore Miles. I..." he paused, unsure how to go on. He had been through more life threatening risk then Edgeworth could possibly know about, and here he had been, getting onto his cousin for doing the exact same thing. Fiddling with his glass for a moment, he finally drank deeply of it. He was going to need ever last bit of liquid courage for this.

"There's something I need to tell you."

[edge_of_honor]

Edgeworth knew, on some level, that Souji wasn't a child anymore. He was of age, and had been for years. However, he was still as protective of him as he ever was. He couldn't shelter Souji from everything (and nor did he desire to), but Edgeworth still couldn't stomach the idea of putting him in danger over his own mistakes.

That last sentence, however, caught his attention. He looked up at Souji, and asked, "What is it?"

[find_my_truth]

A sigh, and Souji swallowed heavily. He had debated telling this for so long, and now here he was-- doing it while half drunk and without checking with the rest of his team first. But Miles was Miles; he trusted him.

"The reason I gave you for leaving Inaba wasn't completely honest."

[edge_of_honor]

Souji's hesitation did nothing good for Edgeworth's nerves. The longer the boy paused, the more time Edgeworth had to realize that something was drastically wrong. He had been up to something over these past few months; what, exactly, Edgeworth could not say.

"Then why did you leave?" he asked, his voice oddly cool.

[find_my_truth]

"To hunt down the person committing the Foggy Day Killings in Inaba." No dancing around it, no sugarcoating. They were beyond that now, and he knew Edgeworth wouldn't put up with anymore half truths at this point.

[edge_of_honor]

If Edgeworth had a drink he would have choked on it by now. He heard about those killings, but had assumed that the case would remain abandoned and unsolved. Never did he imagine that somebody would-

"But..." Edgeworth gaped openly at Souji, his previous composure now gone, and asked, "But why?"

[find_my_truth]

"It's a long story, and I doubt you'll believe all of it... but because my friends and I are the only ones who can." He stopped, his expression dropping even more then before. "Or were... they stopped a long while ago. Just chasing ghosts now."

[edge_of_honor]

So he and his friends went out on some wild goose chase. How could they have been so foolish-

Edgeworth stopped that thought with a sigh. As angry as he was, was it really any different than the stunts he had pulled? While he may not know all the details of Souji's investigation, that sense of desperation, the one that came when one thought that only they and they alone could set things right, was all too familiar to him. More importantly, though, he also knew the harsh, bitter despair that came when one failed in their quixotic little hunts. Edgeworth remained silent as he thought over what Souji said. How was one supposed to reply? Consolation and words of support, more often than not, only made the sting of defeat worse.

He tilted his head and looked up at his cousin, and asked, "But you have another mission now, do you not?"

[find_my_truth]

He had been expecting more questions, more demands for why why why could you be so dumb those other kids depend on you...

But in the end what his cousin DID say meant more, and Souji's misty gray eyes sharpened, but this time not in anger. At least not at Miles. "Yes. Yes I do."

[edge_of_honor]

Edgeworth met Souji's gaze and, his tone firm, said, "Then focus on that. Make that, not Inaba, your sole goal from now until it's finished, and give it everything, everything you have. Don't forget what happened during your investigation, but don't let your attention linger on it, either. It will only hinder you and distract you from what's truly important: the mission at hand. Do you understand, Souji?"

[find_my_truth]

"I think so." He paused, thoughtful for a moment. As if arguing with himself once again. That seemed to be his constant state of mind these last few months: constant self doubt.

"Is that how you managed it in the Navy, Miles?"