ataraxion | FIFTEEN: video

Entry tags:

FIFTEEN: video

[It's rare that Tyke makes a post to the network not looking annoyed, but this time there's obviously some attempt to smooth it over, to keep her tone neutral.]

Manfred von Karma's death has been found to be self-inflicted. Miles Edgeworth has been released.

[It looks like that's going to be it, because she doesn't want to explain the outlying circumstances or invite questions on Edgeworth's innocence. But then all of the annoyance she's been keeping tamped down rises to the surface, irritation clear in her expression and her voice as she continues-]

You find a scene like that, you report it to SEC, and you don't fucking touch anything.

[That's it. She cuts the video before her temper can get any worse.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[A bit weakly:]

Right. As you say.

[He takes a moment, then takes a breath and asks:]

How long should I stay away from work?

As long as you need.

[Though she might start trying to do something about it if he takes longer than a month.]

[When he speaks again, he sounds hesitant and uncertain. It's exactly what he'd said to Sirius, isn't it? That she wouldn't especially want him back. He doesn't know whether this is her offering an opportunity for him to do it subtly, to save them both embarrassment, or...

But it's always been one of his greatest weaknesses. He's smart, certainly, but he's never really grasped subtleties. Like someone pretending affection when they feel nothing of the sort - ]

I'm - not asking for leave. I'm asking - how long do you want me to stay away.

[There's a pause where Taylor looks at her communicator for a long moment, confused. Slightly incredulous. It almost makes her want to snap at him, shake him out of it. But she sighs, instead, pulls up something a bit gentler.]

You're getting leave, cause you need it. And I want you back at 100%.

[Persistent and unhappy:]

And how long do you want that to be? You - needn't be polite.

[That gets a snort of a laugh, actually half genuinely amused.]

When am I ever fucking polite.

[But that doesn't much help. Frustration builds until finally it bursts, coming out in the form of a question, desperate and too loud:]

Do you want me off the team!

Fuck no.

[There's still something amused in her voice, but it's more incredulous now rather than mocking his outburst.]

Cool down, Edgeworth. I wanted you gone, you'd be gone.

But -

[The bluntness of her answer takes the wind completely out of his sails. He flounders a moment, trying to come up with a suitable counterargument - ]

But I'm not - not...Tyke, I confessed to you that I threatened his life. That's a criminal act in itself. And I just - keep bringing trouble. I don't deserve to stand beside you.

[Deserve to stand beside her. Like she's better than that, the amount of people she has killed, for no reason other than that she was ordered to. The amount of threats she's made, because she was angry, prone to violence. And he knows all that, too, which means none of it really makes sense. Probably more on Edgeworth punishing himself than real logic. So that's the part she focusses on, her tone almost like she's simply just shrugged.]

Rather have someone who's been there and stopped themselves than anyone that doesn't know what it's like.

[That's...a good argument, and he struggles for some way to rebut it. Can't come up with anything. So instead, he just says, more subdued:]

I - give you my oath that if you want to get rid of me, I won't make any trouble for you at all. I'll - even offer my resignation, so that it's not embarrassing.

[That's pretty much as far as she can go, being gentle with this. What he says and the way he says it just has her viciously annoyed, snapping,]

Shut up, Edgeworth. You think I want you to make things easy for me?

[Like she'd ever care about something like that being embarrassing.]

Are you gonna let him do this to you? I know you've still got your backbone in there. Use it, for fuck's sake.

[That hits him like a slap. He's only been having people speak to him gently, quietly; having her suddenly snarling at him is both startling and -

Honestly...refreshing. A little bit. It makes things seem a bit less strange and disconnected. He still gapes a moment, but the little curl of emotion within him is less unpleasant than the constant unhappy thrum of defeat.]

It's - It's not about that. It's not about him.

It's all about him. He did this. Start to finish.

It's - It - It wasn't. I - started it by acting in so aggressive a fashion...His acts were a response to my own. My own, which were abominable. And it is in response to my own moral failings...I - I don't care about him any longer.

Bullshit.

[A hesitation - and then he actually sounds timid - ]

Which...part?

All of it. You weren't the cause of his actions. Any of them. And you can't get over shit like this in a couple of days.

[There's a pause, and then a swallow. And then he says:]

I...I have to. Just get over it. There's no utility in being upset. He's just another person I misjudged; that is all.

People don't work like that, Edgeworth. You can't just shut it off because you don't think it's useful.

[Another moment, and then - ]

Are you yourself not able to? You at least control it.

I deal. Not gonna act like I'm an expert.

[Because she really isn't. She thinks he should really talk to Jenna, but just saying that right now feels too much like pawning him off.]

Trying to pretend something doesn't matter, or didn't happen-- you saw that mess I made, few months back.

[Mess is putting it gently.]

[His voice is awkward; he is, now as ever, a very bad liar.]

Not any sort of mess. Just - a moment of indiscretion, easily undone.

[She just sounds quietly bemused. Edgeworth what are you.]

No, it was a really fucked up mess.

Just a few words you didn't want said. I myself have taken pains to forget what you told me.

[He sounds at least an echo himself now - still weaker and quieter than usual, but with just a hint of that officious stubbornness.]

[voice, encrypted 30%]

[voice, encrypted 30%]

[voice, encrypted 30%]

[voice, encrypted 30%]

[voice, encrypted 30%]

[voice, encrypted 30%]

[voice, encrypted 30%]

[voice, encrypted 30%]

[voice, encrypted 30%]

[voice, encrypted 30%]

[voice, encrypted 30%]

[voice, encrypted 30%]

[voice, encrypted 30%]

[voice, encrypted 30%]

[voice, encrypted 30%]

[voice, encrypted 30%]

[voice, encrypted 30%]

[voice, encrypted 30%]

[voice, encrypted 30%]

[voice, encrypted 30%]

[voice, encrypted 30%]

[voice, encrypted 30%]

[voice, encrypted 30%]

[voice, encrypted 30%]

[voice, encrypted 30%]