samuraiprosecutor | [RL 42: There might be a couple of things...][Backdated]

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Current Location: Apartment - Living room

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[RL 42: There might be a couple of things...][Backdated]

((OOC: Backdated to noon on Sunday, 1-24-10 comm time.))

He didn't bother to prepare for the visit. He'd never cared much for the duties of a host, and even if he had there wasn't much preparation to be done. The apartment was already spotless, as always, and Edgeworth had been presentable since that morning, having dressed early in neatly pressed, dark grey trousers and a burgundy turtleneck. The one gesture he was willing to make towards a welcome--drinks and/or refreshments--would come after, so when noon rolled around Edgeworth was simply lounging in his armchair, book in hand and Belgian Terv at his feet.

'Lounging' may not be a completely accurate description, given the tight set of his shoulders and the slight furrow of his brow, but by the time the Corinthian was shown into the apartment most of that evidence would be masked.

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It was a little longer before the nightmare finally showed up himself; partly due to a last minute errand, but mostly because he still didn't have all his thoughts together. Of all the things the Corinthian had expected to explain to Edgeworth, this....really was the one he had been hoping to avoid the longest. Close to two years of little more than off-hand implications wasn't a bad streak, all things considered, though he had a feeling that it was going to hurt more than it would help with this case.

As he knocked on the apartment door he felt....not anxious. Resigned, maybe. It really had been only a matter of time. There was no good outcome for this conversation, he already knew that. But maybe the fact he was being honest about it would....

The minutes ticking by did nothing to smooth out the frown creasing Edgeworth's brow. By the time the knock resounded through the foyer he had lost his place on the page several times.

As Edgeworth rose and took a moment to stretch the telltale tension from his shoulders, Sieghard looked at him curiously then bounded to his feet and pattered over to the door. Edgeworth slipped a bookmark into the book, crossed the foyer, and placed the Christie back on the bookshelf before joining him.

The frown was gone by the time he opened the door, replaced with an indefinable expression. He looked his visitor over once, nodded, then took a few steps back into the foyer, holding the door open wide.

"Corinthian."

"Hey." Under normal circumstances, the greeting might have even seemed a little enthusiastic. But slight as it was he could still pick up on the tension, and any other attempts he had in mind to at least try and lighten the mood a little were held at bay.

Sieghard was starting to grow on him a little. He allowed to dog to briefly sniff at him, and he even pat him on the head as he passed. Where did he even start now....

"....have you actually read anything yet?"

Edgeworth backed away from the door as his guest entered, leaving the nightmare to close it behind him, and headed toward the kitchen. Sigi followed his master across the foyer, his gait jaunty and completely at odds with the underlying tension in the room.

Edgeworth paused before he reached the kitchen doorway, looking back over his shoulder.

"Not yet," he replied, his tone carefully neutral. "You can take the couch. Do you want anything from the kitchen? I was going to put a pot on."

The nightmmare just shook his head as he walked over to the couch. "Thanks, but no."

....small talk was probably out of the question, terrible as he was at it at the best of times. Just sitting and waiting anxiously wasn't very appealing either, really, but it wasn't as if he had much of a choice.

Edgeworth certainly wasn't giving him one. He disappeared into the kitchen without another word, and Sigi disappeared with him. They were gone for a long while, during which the quiet was broken by an occasional metallic clang or clink of porcelain.

When Edgeworth finally returned to the living room several minutes after the whistle of the tea kettle had filled the apartment, he was adroitly balancing a cup and saucer in one hand. He put the saucer down on the ottoman as he took his seat in the armchair, then lifted the delicate, porcelain cup to his lips, looking expectantly at the Corinthian over its rim.

If the tension that seemed to come from waiting alone was any indication of the rest of this visit would be....for a few moments he seemed perfectly content to just look back, likely mulling over how exactly to bring up this particular subject. Then, with a small sigh, he sat back.

"....you can relax a little." As if he had much more room to talk. But with a decidedly more casual--if not dry--tone he continued. "I'm not confessing to any horrible murders or whatever you might be thinking of, I promise."

Edgeworth couldn't quite hide the relief in his eyes before he dropped them (a tad guiltily) to his cup.

"If you were confessing to murder, this would be an extremely truncated visit," he remarked, after attempting to cover the look with a muffled snort of laughter that prompted Sigi to stand up between them and stick his nose out curiously at his master.

Edgeworth ran the fingers of his free hand through the dog's fur, took another quick sip of his tea, then lowered the cup to fully regard his companion. There was a noticeable relaxing of tension in his shoulders, but his expression was still unreadable, his gaze unflinching.

"Very well. Then if you're ready to alleviate my curiosity..."

It wasn't a hard change to miss, and the Corinthian almost found him smiling wryly despite himself. That was what most people tended to assume, he noticed. Not that he didn't give them good reason to with half the things he said or did, he was sure.

"....I wouldn't even know where to start." This had been so much easier the fist time, with David. A little harsher, slipping up and getting caught....his panic didn't give him a chance to think and everything came out so easily, jumbled mess though it was. "We've at least been over all the basics, right? Of what I am?"

"An exceptionally durable nightmare?" The corner of his lips quirked up briefly, but he didn't allow his amusement to show for long. The news that things weren't as bad as a part of him had feared still hadn't removed all of his trepidation.

"I know the basics, Corinthian, but given some of our conversations...and what your employer's sister has had to say, I suspect there's far more to it than that."

And that right there actually sounded like an opening. He looked up, brow furrowing slightly behind the glasses.

"What was it she said, exactly?" Likely nothing too important, he thought, otherwise it would have come up before now. Still....he was curious. Annoyed at the fact that people continued talking about him behind his back, but curious. "I might be able to elaborate from there."

Edgeworth considered him for a few moments, then took a slow sip of tea before leaning forward to replace the cup on its saucer. Interest stirred by the movement, Sieghard sniffed at the cup, his master's hand, and finally, turned to loudly sniff the nightmare's knee.

Apparently oblivious to the intrusion, Edgeworth kept his eyes on the Corinthian and his voice carefully neutral.

"She didn't say much. As you know, she may be honest but she's not always forthcoming. The dubious gift of the books was prompted by a brief discussion on your...loyalty." The last word was said with a subtle emphasis, and he waited a few moments to see whether the nightmare would need to be led any further.

The Corinthian spared Sieghard a few absent scratches around his ears, but when Edgeworth did speak again it caused him to stop short. He didn't try to hide the small frown that crossed his face.

"Only we actually did talk about my loyalty before," he pointed out. "And there hadn't been much to go into about it then, either. It is what it is."

"It is." Edgeworth showed no sign of hesitation in the face of that frown. He held his companion's gaze, his own revealing nothing. "Loyalty 'to the bone,' as she put it. She seems to consider it a...limitation."

Giving up on receiving any attention, Sieghard lay down between the armchair and sofa, his muzzle on his paws and his ears perked to catch the conversation going on around him.

"I can't see why she would." The frown deepened, but after a moment he caught himself, and with a deep breath he forced his voice back to a neutral tone. "Maybe it is 'to the bone', but so far it hasn't limited me in any way."

This wasn't the conversation he had come here for, but for the moment it would have to do. And if he could set a few things on this straight, then that was all the better. "He made me, remember? I owe it to him to be there." For giving him more second chances than even cared to admit to....

A frown finally broke Edgeworth's unreadable expression, and he crossed his arms and leaned back in the armchair. Somehow the relaxing of his posture only translated into more tension.

"What else do you think you owe to him?"

The Corinthian managed to maintain a blank expression, though he could feel another frown of his own itching at the corner of his mouth. What was it about this that kept getting Edgeworth so worked up....?

"To be honest? Everything." He sat back, finally looking away. "Take it how you will."

"Then there's nothing you'd deny to him?" he continued undaunted, the words pointed and sharp. "No questions you'd dare to ask?"

Without even missing a beat, he shook his head. "Now is there a reason why you're so hellbent on questioning it?"

Edgeworth's response was just as immediate. His arms were uncrossed now, his right hand clamped firmly on the arm of the chair, and he was leaning forward again.

"I question it because I've seen firsthand what can happen when one doesn't," he snapped, the volume of his voice spiking a subtle degree.

"And I'm telling you you don't have to worry about it." At this point even the sunglasses couldn't hide his glare. He leaned forward himself, just barely keeping his voice from going any higher in turn.

"If you trust me on anything, trust that I know what the hell I'm doing. Whatever you think of Dream....he's not like that." The see for yourself at the end hadn't been spoken, but his tone certainly implied it.

The request stung him into a few moments of tense silence. Eventually he dropped his gaze, frowning off to the side as he crossed one arm over his chest and began to worry his sleeve reflexively.

"Trust isn't something that's ever come easily for me, Corinthian." He said quietly, as he gave his companion a pointed glance, his brows furrowed. "You already have some idea of why."

Eventually he let his gaze fall on his teacup, and his instinctive fidgeting faded, though his hand still clutched at his sleeve. "His sister says he's...not the kindest member of her family. I'm sure those books will show me someone else, another side of a being that, if the rest of his family is any indication, must be inscrutable in both method and motivations. These aren't beings that are meant to be understood. Even I can see that, with what limited information I have."

"But your perception of the man is different from either of these," he continued, finally meeting his companion's gaze again. "So tell me, Corinthian. Who is Dream?"

That look from him was what kept the nightmare from shouting further. He didn't take his gaze off Edgeworth, and for a moment he felt the smallest pang of guilt. Of course he had an idea....and that hadn't been the way he wanted to bring that up. Not now.

A brief moment of silence followed as he looked away as well, going over the question even he didn't know how to answer.

"He's....Dream. He's not the kindest, no, and save for Death no one in their family particularly is. I don't know what exactly you've heard about him so far, but it's likely not as bad as you seem to think." A wry grin tugged at his mouth. "I'll admit he could be a pretty cold and vindictive bastard when he wanted to be, but that was back before he was...."

He trailed off, his expression unreadable. After some moments he only shrugged, and sat back again. "He's not the man he used to be. It's hard to explain to someone who wasn't there."

Edgeworth regarded him for a while with a measured gaze. When he finally responded, there was a hint of a smirk, faint but clear, on his lips. "Fortunately, i can be there...in a manner of speaking."

The amusement vanished as suddenly as it had appeared and was replaced with a frown and a furrow in his brow, unmistakable evidence of concern.

"Trust is too easily abused. The act doesn't have to be intentional for the result to be disastrous. Loyalty can be commendable, but blind loyalty..." He paused, then shook his head gently as he leaned back in his chair. "If you must follow, Corinthian, stay aware of where you're being led. Damnation is painful enough when it's the end result of a man's own choices."

Despite his best efforts, he had to return the smirk, brief as it was, and gave a slight nod. In a way, he could be. He wasn't sure where this comic started in their story or even when it ended, but with any luck....

A small grimace crossed his face after, and for some long moments he started blankly at the floor, saying nothing.

"....I know, Edgeworth. I....do appreciate the concern."

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