boxolawyers | [RL] Shadowtiems~

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Current Location: Los Angeles

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[RL] Shadowtiems~

Who: Miles Edgeworth, Shadow!Bourne (David Webb's shadow)
What: David Webb has fallen victim to a lingering remnant of the Persona world's Shadow-creating fog, and the community has randomly decided his shadow should pay the AA world a visit.
Where: The streets of LA, a couple of blocks from Edgeworth's destination.
When: Late evening, mid-week. Sometime after the Shadow event. (non-canon DDD-verse)
Warnings: Shadow!Bourne, which should be enough of a warning in and of itself.

The foot traffic had lessened considerably by the time Edgeworth finally headed out for dinner. It had been sparse when he'd taken Sigi out for his walk nearly an hour earlier. Now, late on a weekday evening and with only work to look forward to the following morning, most of the pedestrians had already made their way home. Which suited Edgeworth quite well--he always disliked crowds, and he relished the prospect of having the restaurant mostly to himself. The staff at his favorite Italian place were always attentive, of course, but they were even more so when they only had to divide their considerable resources and talents between a few customers.

Edgeworth quickened his pace at the thought, eager to finally eat the first substantial food he'd had all day. Vending machine wares were hardly enough to sustain a man, especially one who'd been working himself even more than usual that week in an effort to stay on top of a complicated case.

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And Edgeworth was already, by his very nature, not a difficult person to spot. His black trench coat didn't hide all of his eye-catching magenta suit or the crisply white jabot at his throat, and his grey hair and upright bearing had always made him easily distinguishable. With the addition of his hurried pace, unusual for almost anyone at this time of night, he stood out quite clearly on the Los Angeles streets.

That one. The prosecutor, Edgeworth, the hypocritical one who had cut ties with him. Edgeworth would have access to ways to worldhop. The question was how to approach. Edgeworth would think that Bourne was him. He should be able to use that...

He headed towards the other man, trying for his self-effacing posture. "Edgeworth?" he asked, in the quiet, somewhat apologetic, altogether disgusting tone he would use.

With his hunger reaching uncomfortable levels and the restaurant a mere block away, the interruption was anything but welcome. Still, he pulled himself up short at the sound of his own name and glanced around questioningly, making at least some effort to rein in his irritation until he knew who he was directing it toward.

When he finally found the source, much of his irritation faded into confusion.

"Webb?" he replied, his brows furrowing. His gaze darted around the street as if he expected Webb to be accompanied by a world-hopper or another victim of whatever virus might have brought him there in the first place. When he realized the man was unaccompanied, he turned back to him with a wary glare. "Why are you here?"

The name caused a flash of irritation, which Bourne quickly hid. Webb didn't exist anymore. His attachment to the name was stupid.

But he couldn't afford to alienate and asset. Not right away, at least. "I don't know," he said, levelly.

Edgeworth heaved a sigh, not bothering to hide his exasperation. "I know I should be surprised by an otherworldly visitor, particularly one who doesn't know himself how he got here, but at this point all I can bring myself to care about is how much my dinner is going to be delayed."

Bourne smiled politely. "I wouldn't want to delay that."

"I wouldn't want you to, either," Edgeworth muttered irritably, casting a glance down the street in the direction of the restaurant he knew was just out of sight. After a moment he turned his attention back to his companion, and regarded him curiously.

"I wasn't sure you were still a member of the community. It's been...some time since I saw you posting there."

"I haven't been on at all. I don't know how this happened." But he was grateful to it, in his way.

"Actually, I can't get back on. I tried." That was true. He could have used his account to ask for a worldhop, but when he'd tried it in the local coffee shop he hadn't been able to log on.

"...You can't? But you remember the community?" A virus was starting to sound like the only possible cause for Webb's appearance, though the parameters of the virus itself weren't yet obvious. Edgeworth watched him a moment more, before reaching for his phone and holding it out to his companion.

"If it doesn't want you to leave our world, I doubt it'll allow you to use this either, but you might as well try. If nothing else you should be able to call for some transport...and the sooner you leave, the sooner I can eat."

"It's not something you easily forget," Bourne said dryly.

He was a little surprised by the offer of the phone, and allowed it to show. But he took it. "...Who should I call?"

"You'd be surprised," Edgeworth muttered, his own tone dry but tainted with bitterness.

The question obviously surprised him as much as the offer had surprised Webb. Edgeworth cocked an eyebrow at him, crossing his arms over his chest. "Whoever will take you home. I assumed you would call the Corinthian, but if you have someone else in mind, call them. I won't object."

He couldn't call Corinthian. The nightmare would notice, and Bourne wasn't entirely sure he could get through a fight with Corinthian. He knew he couldn't do it without damage. And Corinthian would warn him.

"Corinthian seemed pretty busy last time I talked to him," he said curtly. Close enough to true, it shouldn't sound suspicious.

Maybe the Doctor? But you couldn't be sure that man was actually being oblivious... Bourne started scrolling through the contacts list.

Edgeworth didn't look entirely convinced by the excuse, but he brushed it off with an elegant shrug.

"Someone else, then. I don't care much who it is, as long as you can walk while you're calling them." And he turned to continue down the street at a much more sedate pace, not bothering to check and verify that his companion was following as he passed in and out of the scarce lights from still open storefronts.

"Of course," Bourne said, keeping his voice calm.

He stayed a step behind the prosecutor, pausing to check his surroundings in between considering the contacts.

Edgeworth didn't acknowledge Webb again until they were approaching the restaurant. The familiar, frosted glass door finally came into view; Edgeworth paused on the street corner just before it and turned to look at his companion, already opening his mouth to speak.

The sight that greeted him under the bright streetlight left him gaping and temporarily unable to speak. Even at that angle he could make out Webb's bright, golden eyes, and for a few precious moments he could only stare as he processed their meaning.

Eventually he muttered a hasty, "Il Palazzo, up ahead," before directing his gaze forward. The traffic light was against them, giving him a few moments to try to compose himself, but he doubted the slip would go unnoticed.

Dammit, the prosecutor had noticed, hadn't he? Still, the man might be willing to bluff it out for as long as Bourne needed.

"Is something wrong?" he asked, feigning concern.

"Beyond the fact that this will be the first real meal I've had since last evening and the community is doing its best to interrupt it? No, not particularly." Edgeworth managed to keep his voice relatively steady as he answered, even adding a hint of growing irritation in for good measure, but all the while his mind was reeling.

It was blatantly apparent he couldn't allow the man to go home. Considering the kind of secrets Webb might be hiding, unleashing his shadow on any unsuspecting innocents could be catastrophic. The man was equally dangerous on their own world, and as long as he had Edgeworth's phone there was no way for him to reach someone who might be able to help.

While his mind ran, panicked, through all the possibilities, the light changed. Before crossing the street, he glanced at his companion and said, as casually as he could, "You're certain the Corinthian isn't an option? Being busy never seemed to stop him from answering my requests for transportation."

"He was pretty clear about it a few days ago," Bourne said casually, gauging the prosecutor's reaction as he followed. Deflecting to the nightmare was smart. But would Edgeworth be able to maintain that composure much longer?

Shame Edgeworth didn't have more worldhoppers on this contacts list.

Edgeworth shrugged as he continued towards the beacon of dim light on the other side of the street. His shoulders were tense, his back straight, but he struggled to keep his voice even and free of any telltale signs of nervousness.

"The Doctor, perhaps?"

He had known the Doctor was a bad idea.

"Maybe," he said, noncommitaly. Maybe he could fake calling the Doctor. Would Edgeworth check?

They'd reached the restaurant; the door was closed, but the light inside and out and the sign hanging on the front left no doubts as to whether the place was open at this hour. Edgeworth stopped before the door and slipped his hands into his pockets.

"If you're going to call him, do it now. This establishment prides itself on its atmosphere and its food; they frown on cell phone use in the building." It came out easily, even more so because it was the truth (as Edgeworth had found out the hard way).

"Of course." He could run the risk of calling. The computer hadn't worked, it was possible this wouldn't. If Bourne didn't call someone, it increasingly looked like the lawyer would find a way to. And if Bourne faked the call, Edgeworth was likely to find out by checking the phone's history.

He'd take the risk.

Bourne pressed the button and called the Doctor. "...Busy signal."

Edgeworth's jaw clenched. He kept his eyes trained steadily on the shadow, simply watching him, no challenge in his gaze.

"I'm afraid I don't have any other suggestions to offer. Between the two of them, I never have a problem finding transportation, and the few others I've used left the community long ago." He turned his head to glance casually down the street again, buying himself a few moments for planning.

"It's possible the busy signal was the community's doing. If it's trying to keep you here, obviously letting you call for a ride would be counterproductive." He turned back to 'Webb', cocking his brow gently. "Perhaps I should try."

"You might have better luck," Bourne said politely, handing the phone back to its owner.

Edgeworth was all too aware he hadn't been entirely subtle in his realization of the shadow's identity. Sure that he'd already been found out, he hadn't expected the phone to be relinquished quite so readily, and he tried not to let that fact show. Hesitating only a moment, he reached out and retrieved the phone. A few practiced keystrokes brought up the Doctor's number in his address book, and with one final glance at his companion, he hit the talk button and lifted the phone to his ear.

If Edgeworth got through, Bourne could always run. The crowd was sparse, but it would still be easy enough to loose the lawyer. There were others in this world who were members of the community. And that Larry Butz, for one, would probably forget any warning Edgeworth might put out there.

The shadow needn't have worried. There was indeed a busy signal on the Doctor's line. Edgeworth's downcast eyes shot up toward his companion, saying as much without words, and he pulled the phone away from his ear and pushed the off button.

"If it's the community's doing, it's not letting me through either. Or perhaps he's actually unavailable, difficult as that is to believe." Brows furrowing, he darted a look down the street. "It seems the Corinthian may be your only option. Unless you'd prefer me to post a request on the community for you?" As he said it he was pulling up the phone's browser, already composing in his mind the call for help he'd be posting in place of the shadow's world-hop request.

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[RL] Shadowtiems~

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