I hear the train a-comin / It's rollin round the bend [ooopen]

[jurisimpudent]

CHARACTERS: Edgeworth and the Murderettes
LOCATION: The brig, yar har
WARNINGS: Edgeworth is an emo asshole
SUMMARY: So Edgeworth is in the brig on his own insistence for a murder he didn't commit. Come make fun of him! Throw things! Pay $2 for a bag of peanuts to feed him!
NOTES: Can happen between the 17th and the 20th. If you can't get him to talk, present: badge.


[Edgeworth doesn't look up when people come to see him. He just keeps looking at his hands, quiet and still; he says little. Still, he hasn't put in a request for no visitors, and he won't; it's less from a desire for company than from a desire for people to be able to see he's getting no special treatment. In the brig, like any other criminal, no matter that he was until recently the one guarding it.

He's in his suit still. He looks exhausted.]

Comments

[doggedly]

If they make you look worse--

[Then he's got to be the one to find them. Reason and instinct and gut feeling are all worth more to him than some bloody documents, especially because he knows the truth of them. He shifts back from Edgeworth, shoves his hand over his mouth as he scowls.]

How do they make you look worse? They prove he's the bastard that killed your dad--and that he'd have killed you too if he had the chance of it. It's got it written out that he was going to kill you.

[No, there, that's it: because of revenge. Because who wouldn't want revenge after that, and Sirius shakes his head impatiently.]

I'll look. What do they look like, how am I going to recognise them when I see them?

[jurisimpudent]

They're...in a manila envelope. Stamped State vs. Edgeworth.

[He says that quietly, then looks up.]

Sirius, give me your oath you won't conceal them. And I need you to tell Tyke, too, what I called you and asked you.

[doggedly]

[He nods, to that first bit--right, he can find that--but his face darkens nearly immediately when Edgeworth makes that request.]

I'll give her the files, if that's what you want.

[And he's not saying yes or no to the second bit.]

[jurisimpudent]

[Edgeworth, though, might be depressed, but he hasn't entirely lost his stubbornness.]

And you'll tell her what I said.

[doggedly]

[He narrows his eyes, unimpressed at that insistence.]

I'm not telling her what you said, because it's shit.

[jurisimpudent]

It's evidence.

[He closes his eyes.]

If you don't share that, you're obstructing the course of justice.

[doggedly]

It's not evidence. It's a five minute conversation, it could have--

[He rubs a hand over his mouth, hard, shutting himself up for a second.]

If I show her that one, then I have to go back and find all the ones where you were a decent human being and-- and where you talked me out of all sorts of stupid shit, and where you were an idiot for the sake of everyone else, selfless git that you are. And half of those aren't even recorded, how can I show those to her?

[jurisimpudent]

[He meets Sirius' eyes again halfway though that speech. His mouth is an unsteady line, and his eyes are damp, but he's at least keeping control of himself now. But that it's not no, I won't, but instead talk of him being good, being decent - that Sirius still thinks of him as decent - it's nearly enough to break his heart again.]

That's...Tyke will already be biased towards me. Even if she doesn't like me, she still thinks of me as part of her team, and that biases her in my favor. Making me seem a person of good character won't help the course of justice.

[doggedly]

This is fucking unbelievable-- look, it will if you didn't do it. And you didn't. You're--

[He cuts himself off again with an irritated noise, wordless, and he shoves himself to his feet and paces a ways away, too on-edge to really sit still right now.]

You're being bloody ridiculous. That's what this is. You didn't do it, why go on about how we're going to be biased towards you. Of course we are. You didn't do it, and we know you didn't because, as I said, we know you.

[jurisimpudent]

[He shakes his head and starts:]

If the evidence indicates that I'm guilty -

[doggedly]

If it indicates you're guilty, and you're not guilty--and you aren't, I know that--then what?

[He turns back to glare at Edgeworth, darkly.]

What do you expect me to do then?

[jurisimpudent]

[He shakes his head.]

I expect you to...abide by it. That's all that can be done. It's about more than just me, Black.

[doggedly]

[He laughs, hollowly, still across the cell from Edgeworth.]

This isn't about you. How the hell is this not about you-- what else could it be about?

[jurisimpudent]

It's about the security team.

[He looks directly at Sirius, his expression pleading for understanding.]

If I'm shown favoritism, you'll lose credibility.

[doggedly]

You're--

[He gets it, he definitely gets it--but he doesn't like it, and he takes a step forward, his hands curled to fists at his sides, like he's going to go for Edgeworth.]

You're telling me that you expect me to chose the security team over you.

[jurisimpudent]

[And Edgeworth looks down. His words are diplomatic - ]

I expect you to do your duty to the utmost, and to ask others to do the same.

[But the translation is clear.]

[doggedly]

[He sinks back half a step, a dread in the pit of his stomach. He knows what Edgdeworth is asking of him. How the hell is he meant to do this?]

Fuck that. Fuck that, I don't give a damn about-- my duty? You're my friend, Edgeworth.

[jurisimpudent]

I know. And I know that it means a lot to you. And it means...a lot to me, as well.

[He closes his eyes.]

But it - It's about the safety of everyone.

[doggedly]

[And he knows what Edgeworth means, he knows--it's what he's always said, right, they have to have security for order--but at this price, this is ridiculous--]

I'm not just leaving you in here when you didn't do anything. I'll get your stupid file, I'll talk to Tyke--but I'm not leaving you in here.

[jurisimpudent]

Black, you have to.

[He looks down and says, quietly:]

It will look very bad if you don't. That door needs to be locked.

[doggedly]

I mean permanently.

[He glares over his shoulder at the door, more so he doesn't have to look at Edgeworth than out of any rancor directed at it.]

I'll lock it, since you're a pigheaded git. But I'm not leaving you down here locked up, no matter what the hell happens.

[jurisimpudent]

[He hesitates, but then says:]

I don't think you would do so. Not indefinitely.

[doggedly]

[He nods, firmly, his jaw set--and forces himself to look back at Edgeworth, transferring that glare to him instead.]

You know I think you're an idiot. Right?

[jurisimpudent]

[A low, choked laugh. And he says:]

Probably not incorrectly.

[doggedly]

Definitely not incorrectly.

[He stares at Edgeworth a moment longer--and then scoffs, more to himself than anything else, and abruptly shoves off to cross to him, crouching to grab him by the shoulder again.]

Fortunately I'm not the sort that leaves idiots languishing in dungeons. It's not fair. If you're stupid enough to get yourself into this, then I'll just have to get you out again. So just-- [His grip tightens a moment; he sets his teeth together. Dammit.] Hang on.