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

[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.

[jurisimpudent]

[He nods. And then, unsteadily, he reaches out to uncertainly grab onto Sirius' sleeve, and he says, unsteadily - ]

Just...Please - promise me that if...

[He closes his eyes and swallows hard.]

If it comes down to it, I'd sooner be executed than - stay in here. I can't stay in here. All right?

[doggedly]

[He's got an answer for that, of course he does--he's got an answer for anything--but for a second, Sirius stares numbly at Edgeworth, a ringing starting in his ears. Executed. People are killed on this ship, yeah, but not Edgeworth. And not over something like this.

It's ridiculous. All of it, it's ridiculous, but he's not going to be executed, and he wants to say that to him, to tell him with such conviction that he snaps out of this stupid misery, because-- because he didn't do it.]

You're not. [He says it brusquely, gruffly--he shifts his grip to his arm instead, both hands, grabbing hold of him and giving him a little shake.] Don't be stupid. Neither of those things are happening to you, not over this. I wouldn't let--

[Jesus, Edgeworth, what is wrong with you, he thinks, and grits his teeth.]

It's not going to happen. I'm going to work this out. I swear.

[jurisimpudent]

[He thinks, on the one hand, that this was why he was never supposed to have had friends. Because when you come to the end - and you always come to the end; he was always going to - they give you a look like that. Desperate and miserable. Even a man like Sirius, cheerful and energetic and full of verve, with his boyish boldness and indomitable spirit, has been brought low by his failings and his mistakes. He ought never have inflicted himself upon someone brave and true like Sirius.

And yet he doesn't know what he'd do if it weren't for Sirius' stubborn determination. He says I swear, and for a moment Edgeworth feels hope. He believes him. And that belief is like a lifeline.

And so he says, quietly, knowing this is a mistake - because it will destroy Sirius, devastate him, if he fails - ]

I believe you.

[doggedly]

[He nods, once, quickly--and he's bad at this, he's bad at--emotions, at understanding things, at knowing what to do and when to do it, what to say and when to say it--he's always been clumsy in his gestures, stepping on toes more often than not--but whatever, he thinks, fiercely, whatever, and he shifts suddenly and grabs hold of Edgeworth in an embrace, quick and fast and hard. It's awkward--he's kneeling, Edgeworth is sitting on the floor--but that doesn't matter, nothing but doing it matters.

A second later and he pulls away, shoving his fingers through his hair as he stands up.]

Don't do anything stupid. [He says it, gruffly; he turns, his shoulders already hunched.] I'll be back later. I'll tell you what I find out.

[jurisimpudent]

[And Edgeworth for a moment doesn't react - and then, briefly, reaches out and hugs him back, fierce and hard and more than a little desperate, and then releases him. When he pulls back he's dragging the heels of his hands across his eyes to press back tears.

And he whispers:]

Thank you.