ataraxion | text. | hello, is it me you're looking for?

Entry tags:

text. | hello, is it me you're looking for?

So we're all up in each other's heads, which blows, obviously. I feel like I'm ten people right now, and I have no idea who half those ten people are. I was gonna ask around, try and figure it out, but I have a better idea.

[ for a certain definition of "better". ]

Presenting, The Tranquility's Freaky Memory Swap Directory.

Here's how it works: you drop the details of stuff that doesn't belong in your brain. You know, names, places, events, incriminating secrets. Then comb through what other people leave and work out who got all your dirty laundry so you can bribe or threaten them into silence. Got it? Great.

(( i won't be back to this post for a few hours for any tags meant specifically for stiles, but i turned comment emailing off so tag each other!!! you are welcome to ignore the form.))

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[And that - Edgeworth still feels the bite of that question about his mother, and yet sheer incredulity over Stiles' clear panic cuts through his malaise.]

That's what you're unsettled by? My knowledge of your name?

[ stiles points emphatically at the screen. ]

Nobody knows my name, okay? Nobody. Well, my dad. And I guess some teachers, maybe.

And the government, and those who knew you before you adopted your nickname, and various other relatives - There's not even anything wrong with it. It's a fine name.

It's— no.

[ stiles sucks in an unhappy breath. he's right, it's not, a bad name, even if everyone spells it wrong. but even if edgeworth isn't teasing him about it, that doesn't mean he has the right to— ]

She was the only person who ever called me that, and she's gone, so no-one else gets to. Ever. Got it?

[Oh. Understanding comes suddenly and jarringly; it feels like a blow to the stomach. And so his voice lacks its normal stridency when he speaks again.]

I...Yes. If that is your preference.

Great.

[ he still sounds aggressive about it, but after a moment, he relents, softens a little. ]

Yeah. That's my preference. And I won't tell anyone about — I won't talk about your stuff. It's, what's that mutual destruction thing called?

Mutually assured destruction.

[But that kindles a deep, deep spark of worry within him, breathes it to life.]

Is...What else did you see? Beyond my...mother.

Nothing! Nothing, dude, just a lot of ... before and after stuff, I guess.

...Oh.

[And that extinguishes it.]

I...I would sooner that you not gossip about her, naturally. But speaking of her would not destroy me, Mr. Stilinski.

What about all that von Karma stuff, would speaking about that destroy you?

[It's good that this is just voice, not video, because Edgeworth physically flinches back from that question. It's audible, a little bit, in the way he stammers:]

I - You...said that - you - didn't see anything of that.

I didn't.

[ stiles' voice is low, serious. ]

Look, I can keep your secrets, just don't— just don't tell anyone my name.

...You're blackmailing me, then.

No!

[ he pauses, thinks about it. ]

Maybe. I'm not up on my criminal justice law. But I'm not extorting you, jesus. I've known about this for months and I never asked you for anything.

What -

[He stares down at his communicator, confused.]

You - What do you mean - You've known about what for months?

That Yoga dude, and von Karma, and your dad.

[He's silent for a moment, struggling with...that. It takes a moment; finally, with difficulty, his voice a whisper, he corrects him:]

Yogi.

You...found that file.

Yeah.

[ even just with voice he can hear the gravity of edgeworth's tone, and stiles stops fiddling with whatever he's fiddling with, rubs at his jaw, tries to think of what the hell he's supposed to say next. ]

Sorry.

[ he'd read it, and turned it in, and figured hey, let security handle it. he does actually have some misguided belief in the people here's ability to throw a mock trial. and that had been the end of it. except, you know, not. there's the sound of his fingers drumming next to the mic. ]

No. I - That's...

[He quiets, then tries again.]

I want to...thank you for - handing it in. To Security. When you did. It...

[And he falters again, quiets again. The third time, he finally manages to ask what he wants to ask - asks about what he thought Stiles was threatening him with in the first place.]

Do you believe I was innocent of von Karma's death, in spite of what you read there?

Absolutely.

[ he doesn't even have to think twice about that one. ]

Maybe not at first, but that's the way the cookie crumbled, yo. If you weren't innocent, you'd be chatting to me from the brig. Except, probably not, do they allow people to keep their comms there?

[There's just a slight pause of surprise as Edgeworth tries to wrap his head around just how...certain Stiles sounds. So he stammers slightly as he answers:]

That...No, they - they don't. I...You don't think there's any possibility that I...manipulated the system, or that there was any...corruption?

[He winces as soon as that's out of his mouth, because there's no way that doesn't sound monstrous. Miles Edgeworth tries hard to build credibility - and then he immediately undermines it by saying asinine things like this, purely because he wants to feel validated.]

I trust Tyke, and — my dad thought Security was sound. Not to mention, you're the guy least likely to murder someone, I mean, c'mon.

[ a faux-pause as he pretends to think. ]

Unless you bored them to death, like, deliberately.

[Even though Stiles is being...unexpectedly nice right now, Edgeworth can't keep himself from a rather rude response:]

That's not funny.

No, you're coming at it the wrong way, dude. It is funny, yyyou just have no sense of humor.

[ sorry about how stiles liking you is exactly the same as stiles not really liking you at all. ]

[...That's a point which even Edgeworth knows he can't argue.]

I - suppose I must thank you triply, then. For the fact that you were diligent and decent in turning in that information, and for the fact that you've not used it against me, and for the fact as well that you - have given me such a vote of confidence when I have little earned it.

text. | hello, is it me you're looking for?

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