habeusdorkus | ☛ INBOX;

[The quaking is coming and going, and truthfully Gumshoe can't make sense of that, the poisonous air, or their current area -- but that hardly matters when he sees Edgeworth is reacting poorly to the tremor of the earth. It's no surprise, and he knows there isn't much he can do, but--

Since he can't seem to stay on his feet, Gumshoe starts to make his way over on his belly, scooting forward on his arms.]

It's gonna be okay, sir! I'm comin'!

[Eventually, he does make it to the prosecutor's side, trying to figure out what to do. Although uncertain, Gumshoe takes action: he squirms out of his coat and places it over Edgeworth. Sure, it's a dirty old thing, but he can apologize later for it if it bothers him. For now, he wants to make sure Edgeworth knows he's here.]

It's gotta pass soon, and I'll be right here with you, Mr. Edgeworth.

[If he were currently able to retain enough presence of mind to think in a straight line, he'd probably find himself feeling grudgingly comforted by Gumshoe's insistence on reassuring him. Grudgingly, because he's not one to admit to feeling comforted by anything, and least of all by sentiment offered to him by someone else. But as it is, he's barely able to cling to the recognition that he's not trapped in a suffocating elevator car, he's not about to watch his father die all over again, he's not he's not he's not he's not he's

— Warm, worn-out fabric drapes over him like a blanket, and even though the ground is shaking beneath him, the feeling is oddly grounding.]

D...detect...ive...?

[It is Gumshoe. Gumshoe is here; this is Gumshoe's coat. Then — then he's not alone, is he? Gumshoe is here. Gumshoe is here.]

[After making sure that Edgeworth is practically swimming in the coat, Gumshoe slings an arm around his shoulders without any hesitation.]

Yeah. Yeah, it's me, Mr. Edgeworth!

[He gives him a heavy pat on the arm before going back to essentially one-arm hugging him. Just seems like the right thing to do.]

Wow, it's goin' for awhile. That's so weird. But that's all right. When it's done, we'll get moving.

[Odd, he can't help but think to himself. Odd, how all these sensations feel so sharp, how the world seems hazy-dark around the edges but for a very small ring of clarity right in the center. Odd how his arms are buzzing with numbness and his body feels cold. Odd how Gumshoe's voice seems like it's coming from far away.

The feeling of an arm around him, at least, is real. The solid expanse of Gumshoe's body against him, that's real. And the ground is still shaking, and he's still lost in a void halfway between the present moment and the Los Angeles courthouse seventeen years ago, but in the midst of it are the words when it's done.

It will end; there's hope in that. If he can hold on long enough, there will be an end to this.]

Detective...

[It's such a struggle not to black out; it feels like he's teetering constantly on the verge of it. But Gumshoe is here, and he isn't leaving, and the longer they stay in contact, the more and more the quakes seem to slowly ebb away.]

[As the earthquake finally seems like it's starting to pass, Gumshoe manages to sit himself upright finally, though not without also dragging Edgeworth up into his arms.]

Just take it easy, sir. I got you.

[He'd like to say to take deep breaths, but the air-- it's bad, it's real bad. Not a great situation, but he'll make sure to get the prosecutor to safety somehow.]

See? It's goin' away. You're all right.

I'm — yes...

[He's about thirty seconds away from the self-loathing beginning to set in, but for the moment, Gumshoe is right; he's slowly coming out of his episode as the ground finally begins to still beneath him. There's a narrow window of time now to take stock of the dirt on his clothes and the ache in his side where he'd fallen, and even the stifling air turned rancid in his lungs.

But. It's over now. It's over now, and Gumshoe is here, and it's going to fall to him as usual to be the voice of reason of this outfit (that's a fiction, he thinks vaguely, Detective Gumshoe is perfectly competent, it's just easy to fall back on the facade of blaming him for everything), so that's why he's got to pull himself together, and fast.]

Where. What's happened. Where are we?

[Slowly, he can see how Edgeworth is becoming composed once again, more of his usual self. Despite the circumstances, Gumshoe is relieved, cracking a smile before he stifles a cough into the elbow of his sleeve.]

Oh, uh. I'm still figurin' that one out. But that's okay! 'Cuz I'm sure we'll find some clues. ...Somehow!

[The situation does look grim, but Gumshoe absolutely refuses to let Edgeworth down. So instead, he's going to focus himself 100% on making sure the prosecutor is safe.]

We'll get goin' once you can find your feet again, sir.

[Ugh. Well, that cinches it, then. Traumatized or not, he's going to be the brains of this outfit for the moment, after all. He raises a hand, thinking he'll scrub at his eyes, but stops short when it occurs to him that he'll only be rubbing dirt into them by mistake.]

I don't think aimlessly wandering the landscape is our most advisable course of action.

[Particularly not if the ground is unstable. Someone might fall down a hole.]

What we need is shelter, a way of signaling for help, or both.

Hmm, lemme think. Oh, we can start a fire and make a smoke signal! Or, uh. Spell "S.O.S." with some of the rocks around here. Maybe someone from the sky would see us.

[Look, he's trying. That's what's important. Probably.]

I could, uh. Carve a cave for us!

I doubt anyone in the sky will see us through all this fog.

[saints preserve us this is gonna be a Time Of It, isn't it]

...But. It's a place to start, I suppose.

Detective Gumshoe, answer this text at once.

Sir yes sir!

I want you to answer a question for me, detective, and I order you to answer it truthfully.

Do you believe the so-called Fey Channeling Technique is legitimate?

Huh? Is this a trick question sir??

I mean yeah of course i do

In other words, when a member of that lineage allegedly summons back the spirit of a deceased individual, that individual has legitimately been brought back?

And anything they say or do in that time, it's not the artifice of the channeler but the true actions and thoughts of the supposedly channeled?

Uh
Yeah
That's pretty much it!

Well, I don't. I refuse. It's all nonsense, and you should think it's nonsense, too.

Well uh

[For a hot second, his wires are crossed. On one hand, he wants to be the Bestest Boy, but on the other hand he can't really just stop believing what he knows to be true.]

Sorry I can't do that sir
Ive seen Maya and little Pearl channel spirits before
I dont know much about it but I cant deny what I saw you know?

[And this — this is the part where his stubbornness always hits a brick wall at top speed. It's easy enough when he can separate it out and compartmentalize it into random women, face liars.

Not when it's Maya Fey. Not Maya, who isn't insane and wouldn't lie and therefore the only real remaining conclusion is that she is telling the truth.]

...Fine. Believe what you will. I don't want to talk about this anymore.

[hmmm edgeworth are you sure about that because it almost sounds like something's fuckin bothering you]

Sir

Is something going on sir?

i SAID id ont' want to

It's nothing. Nothing.

A conversation I had with someone on the RadiaNet.

Yeah? What'd they say? Do I gotta FIND EM and scold them??? since i cant arrest them

No, nothing like that.

A man said he'd killed someone to save his mother's life.

Naturally, I asked him what his mother thought of him being a murderer.

I see. That's a tough thing.

What'd he say?

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

text; un: m. edgeworth

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

1/2

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject