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

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

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.]

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[Edgeworth looks at him, not comprehending that second sequence of gestures - then a moment, and then he looks down at that very ground Josias had pointed to as he understands. You don't belong here, he's saying, and Edgeworth wishes that were the case - for though he insisted, though it was his own request, he hates this place, claustrophobia and anxiety and a sense of isolation all combining to make him miserable.

But he does belong in here.]

I'm suspected of a crime.

[Edgeworth immediately losing any slight brightness he'd gained in greeting Josias isn't a surprise, but Josias still frowns. He lifts a hand, as if about to gesture again, but is really at a loss - of course Edgeworth would be one to push him past any kind of conversation that could be interpreted. He would have managed it even without this situation, Josias is sure.

He exhales a long breath, pulling his comms out of his pocket, pulling up the notes application so he can type into it. It takes much longer than it should, part of why he doesn't like relying on this way to communicate in front of other people, because who wants to watch a man have to concentrate on each individual letter for a minute before he can move to the next? Eventually, he turns the screen so Edgeworth can see it,]

Suspects don't always need to be immediately contained. You're punishing yourself before judgement's even been passed.

[Edgeworth's not patient by nature. He's harsh, abrupt, blunt, and quick; when someone's being slow, his usual response is to brush them off and charge ahead without them. But he has nothing to do but wait now, and so he's quiet, understanding, almost serene, as he waits for Josias to finish his laborious typing.

There are counterarguments he could make. When charges are to be brought against a suspect, they're immediately taken into custody; when a suspect is considered to be a danger, it's immediate; when they're a flight risk...But he doesn't really want to lie to him. Not really.]

It's for the sake of Security. [He looks down slightly.] There are certain individuals on the ship who will scream favoritism if I'm not apprehended at once. I...If I fall, I'm not going to take the credibility of the team with me.

[He looks up again.]

But I am...appreciative that you've concern for that. It's more than I deserve.

[Josias' mouth presses thin, obviously some annoyance at Edgeworth's response. The politics of the ship haven't been something Josias has spent any real attention on - forced into that kind of manoeuvring far too much by his father to voluntarily get involved in an environment where he didn't have to. But for something like this to happen - an innocent man to put himself forward for punishment just to ease the complaints of the masses - it doesn't sit well.

But security were a loyal lot, Josias knew from his contact with them, conversations with Alex Summers and John Grimm. More like soldiers in that respect, even if Edgeworth was not a soldier by any stretch of the imagination. He gives a small tip of his head, almost like a shrug, before typing on his comms again.]

Martyrdom doesn't look good on you. I'm just refusing to buy into it.

[Not that he was denying having any actual concern - that much was evident already. But in terms of what Edgeworth deserved, Josias wasn't going to provide any assistance adding to the rocks he was very obviously piling upon his own shoulders.]

It's not -

[He starts in on that before his eyes even reach the end of the first sentence; he falls silent, reads the rest of it, and then looks down. It's not martyrdom, though, not truly. Martyrdom is suffering and dying for some greater cause. He's just suffering because it's his duty. That's different.]

I'd have ended up in here one way or another. This just happened a few hours before it would have otherwise, and on my own terms, with a minimum loss of work-hours by security personnel. I see that as a virtue.

[Josias smiles slightly, expression more fond than overtly amused. It was hard to be too amused about anything right now - the bars between them certainly didn't allow for the situation to be forgotten in any respect.]

No, you're trying to find reason for something that you know is wrong.

[Excuses, he could say, but refrains. Edgeworth's ability to pick the tiniest of things over and over for some scrap of whatever he was looking for might often be frustrating in arguments, but Josias could see now that it was even worse when he was attempting to convince himself of something.]

No, it's - it's not wrong.

[He hates that stammer, hates the way he sounds so deflated and uncertain. Because his arguments and reasoning make sense. They're logical. They sounded completely flawless in his head, and he doesn't know why he's not able to articulate that perfect, straightforward, reasonable logic now.]

People who are suspected of crimes are placed in holding. That's...I've always demanded it for others, and it would be hypocrisy for me to consider myself above it. Or to exploit...my own position to my advantage. Surely you comprehend that -

[And he hates how much he's talking - babbling - and draws up, suddenly self-conscious when faced with the mockery he's making of Josias' condition. But the man's smiling, and he can't tell whether that's mocking -

The slow-simmering panic in his chest, that mix of claustrophobia and dread and misery and confusion, for just a moment, threatens to boil over. He presses a hand to his eyes, trying to force himself to calm down.]

[There's a lot there Josias could respond to. Suspects were held when they were believed dangerous or flight risks - Edgeworth was neither. Not that anyone could be a flight risk, considering they were all trapped on a spaceship. It wasn't exploitation of his position to be allowed to remain free while the matter was investigated, unless Edgeworth himself was allowed to influence the investigation.

But one of the real disadvantages of being unable to speak was being unable to interrupt or interject. Unable to make his point quickly, not leaving some gaping silence for further thought and emotion to fall into - and Edgeworth was clearly reacting emotionally, as much as he may hate to admit it. Josias has no desire to make that worse, to see the man crumble any further than he already was, but he also has no desire to simply shrug and let it go. He lifts his comms again, and types a simple three words.]

Are you innocent?

[By the time Josias has finished writing, Edgeworth is calming if not yet calm; he's lowered his hand from his face, and his panic has been downgraded to a low-level unhappiness. But that's a question that he feels in the pit of his stomach; his knowledge of the true answer to that leaves him sorrowful.

It's the true answer he gives.]

No.

[A shaky breath.]

But I did not commit this crime.

[Josias has to fight the urge to roll his eyes, because yes, of course right now was the perfect time to start arguing the basic state of innocence on any man. Josias had yet to meet a true saint in his life, and he had the feeling he would find them incredibly boring if he ever did. But that isn't the point right now, and it isn't a comment he can waste the time making. Truthfully he might abstain from it even if he could speak - riling Edgeworth up into a more normal argument might give him a steadier footing, but that wasn't a course of action that felt quite right.]

Then you know you shouldn't be here.

[Shouldn't he? Even if Edgeworth wasn't able to fire a gun in hatred, he was wrong enough to have raised one. Even if he didn't take his revenge, it wasn't for a lack of intent. He simply froze before he could do it. He...

He is not, truly, an innocent man. He is not a good man. He's a hypocrite. He's someone who preaches decency and kindness and then throws that all away when it suits him. It's absurd, that all these people come to him and tell him he doesn't belong in here; there's no better place for someone like him.

But he didn't kill von Karma.]

I...I'm very sorry that your voice has not yet returned.

[He stares at the ground, swallows hard.]

Is progress being made?

[It's an evasive move, something that Josias doesn't like much at the best of times, and it's a topic change that he doesn't much appreciate. But it's expected. The matter of his voice can hardly be entirely ignored, especially after such an absence, and most of the time avoidance of the subject was tinted with some kind of pity, which was even worse.

He doesn't have much of an answer to give, and it's not something he wants to spend time typing about anyway. He gives a shrug, a tip of his head, a small smile as he holds his comms up and taps it to indicate this is progress. Then he types,]

Come and see me when you're released.

[When, not if.]

[And Edgeworth wants to correct that word. There's a murderer out there, someone malicious and clever. Edgeworth doesn't know the extent of the evidence against him, but given the timing of this murder, he has little doubt that the killer will have taken advantage of the confrontation to arrange things to incriminate him. Not a when, but an if indeed, because...

Because that's just the way it always seems to work for him. He'll never say those words aloud - especially not to Josias - but just...Things go badly.

But he's not going to argue when Josias can't argue back. And he's not going to hold him here, in this miserable place, bright and glaring and grim, this site of execution. Instead, he just lowers his head.]

I...hope things are resolved swiftly. [With his voice; he indicates this with a faint gesture.] Forgive me for not inquiring after the matter sooner.

[Josias can almost see it. Edgeworth's need to contest his words, carefully held back and let go of with the drop of his chin - though not the belief that they were wrong, just the expression of argument. Josias can't waste more words persuading him otherwise. Knowing Edgeworth, it was only physical proof that would have him accepting it, and nothing was going to do that except time.

He also can't explain that if Edgeworth had inquired after his condition earlier, he would have been met with silence. Avoidance. Josias could smile and tip his head in gentle dismissal now, but the past few months have not been easy for him, even if in retrospect his reaction and self-imposed seclusion was possibly a little overdramatic. He taps out another message.]

I'll see you soon. Chin up, Miles.

[He'd say good luck, except he doesn't believe Edgeworth will need it. Really, what he'd like to do is beckon the man closer to the bars so he could give him some physical expression of support, but he doubts the guards will appreciate that. Instead all he can give is another smile and a small wave before he quietly turns to leave.]

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

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