boxolawyers | [RL] It was only a matter of time

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[RL] It was only a matter of time

Who: Edgeworth, the Corinthian (II)
What: A celebration is interrupted by an old favorite virus.
Where: Edgeworth's apartment
When: Mid-evening
Warnings: None

Sieghard was waiting by the door long before the jangling of keys preceded their entrance into the apartment. Edgeworth greeted the dog with a few gentle pats, leading him out of the doorway to allow their guest room to enter.

"Can I get you anything?" he asked, for once mindful of his duties as host. "There should still be a few beers left from the last time you were here."

Sieghard moved on to the Corinthian, planting himself at the nightmare's side and sniffing curiously at his hand before greeting him with a lick.

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And it was with that the Corinthian seemed to finally concede defeat, because he nodded, and sat back with a smile. "And I suppose any excuse to visit for a while is a good one, boredom or no."

The statement gave Edgeworth pause. He watched his companion for a moment, his expression settling into something indecipherable, and eventually settled back into the cushions.

"Which begs the question, why visit if you know you have only boredom to look forward to?" There was still amusement in his tone, but a note underneath that leant a subtle weight to the question.

If he had noticed, he certainly gave no indication of it. He only gave a small shrug, reached to pull the beer back over to him before he answered almost flippantly.

"I still get to see you. It's not that hard to suck up a few hours of boredom in that case."

Edgeworth shot him a smirk and lifted the remote, preparing to turn the film back on as soon as they were done.

"Then my company is at least as valuable as a few hours of excitement? That's good to know."

"Probably even a little more valuable, I'd say." He took a drink, but then there was a pause on his end as well, and a small frown crossed his face as if the conversation was just then catching up with him.

After a thoughtful moment he merely shook it off. "But like I said. Any excuse to get out for a little while is a good one."

He was tempted to ask how much more--the answer was guaranteed to be amusing and possibly even a bit flattering--but then the Corinthian moved on and Edgeworth was content to move with him.

"Mm. I suppose if I lived in the Dreaming I'd welcome the occasional dose of reality myself."

He couldn't help it. He actually laughed at that, this time without even doing a thing to hide it, and he turned to Edgeworth with a raised brow. "Except the Dreaming is reality for me. It's the rest of your worlds that are so bizarre, and that's what makes them worth seeing."

Without even noticing it, Edgeworth lowered his hand again, as the movie quickly slipped away from his immediate thoughts. A soft chuckle escaped him.

"Point taken. Though I still haven't seen anything in our worlds to quite match what I saw in yours. The library, for example, or your home...I think it's safe to say that in all the worlds they are unique."

That chuckle was certainly encouraging, and he didn't look at all disappointed to see the movie put on hold for a little longer. "Whereas in your world, people are pretty much free to do whatever they like. And if they don't like what they do, they can easily change to something else. Again and again. I'd call that unique as well."

"That's not always a good thing. For that matter, it's not entirely unique. The same could be said for many worlds, particularly most of the Earths." He paused, searching his friend's features. After a long moment he asked, "Do you like what you do, Corinthian?"

The question caught him a bit off guard. He glanced over at Edgeworth for a moment, only to let his gaze drop down to the bottle in his hands instead, thoughtful.

"....sometimes I do wonder if what I'm doing actually means a damn thing in the long run," he admitted, maybe just a little hesitantly. "But yeah. I really do."

Emotion hit him in a wave, intense but fleeting. Not pity--he'd never do his friend the disservice of pitying him--but anger, dull and warm, and an aching need on his behalf. He didn't drop his gaze until long after the Corinthian did.

"I think we all ask ourselves that question from time to time," he said. "I'm afraid having choices doesn't make it any easier to answer."

He looked up again, his brows furrowed slightly. "But I can tell you your work is appreciated."

Again he shrugged, the action suddenly full of his old self-assurance.

"There isn't much that can be done about it on either end anyway, so there's no point in dwelling on it." Even his tone was back to the cocky state usually reserved for this particular subject, though it softened considerably when he finally looked up. "....but that does mean a lot, coming from you."

The cues were easily recognizable, and Edgeworth was ready to obey them, to stop his prying and slip back into the comfortable, companionable atmosphere they'd been enjoying only minutes before.

Then the Corinthian looked up and said something that couldn't be dismissed just yet. Edgeworth allowed the nightmare's dark sunglasses to hold his gaze for a few moments before averting his eyes and shrugging nonchalantly.

"If others knew what I knew, it wouldn't just be coming from me. I'm sure you've helped many in your time, whether they know it or not."

That was true enough, and even the Corinthian knew it. Several people, in fact, and a few of which he even knew personally. But none of which would have been achieved if he hadn't gotten involved in their waking lives on top of their dreams. Hadn't shown them that no, they really weren't just the dreams they assumed they were.

And when it came right down to it, that was the part that got to him most.

He shook his head, and gave the man a wry smile. "Mm. I suppose you might be right."

"I usually am," he said, with a sidelong glance to confirm the smile he could hear in his friend's voice. He returned it with a small but genuine smile of his own. "The work you do is worthwhile. I know I haven't enjoyed the...full benefit of it yet, but if my thanks means anything to you, you certainly have it."

"Probably a hell of a lot more than you know...."

He stopped short. Again. Now he knew that hadn't been the reply he'd wanted to give, but somehow the thought had come through regardless. It was starting to feel a little too familiar for comfort, but he sat back and attempt to hide the sudden tension under the bottle. "We should finish the movie. I should probably be heading back soon."

He almost asked. The temptation was great, but he'd been given the Corinthian's trust and he would respect it unless not doing so was absolutely necessary.

"...Of course." His brows furrowed, but he obediently settled back in his seat and pushed the play button.

The lack of questions was only slightly reliving. He followed his friend in suit, settling back as well, and tried to put everything out of mind and turn his attention back to the screen. Only this time he found himself paying even less attention to the movie, more focused on watching Edgeworth out of the corner of his eye.

Edgeworth was finding it similarly difficult to immerse himself in the film again. The dark lenses may have hid the Corinthian's 'eyes,' but Edgeworth still imagined he could sense the man's disinterest. He had a feeling of being watched, too. That was almost certainly his own projection, but real or not it was also highly distracting.

As the film neared its climax, Edgeworth found himself growing increasingly frustrated with his inability to recapture his own interest in it. Not wanting to waste the ending, he paused the disc again at the first convenient lull. Perhaps another break might help him to clear his mind.

"Can I get you anything while I'm up?"

The frustration wasn't a hard thing to catch, and the nightmare felt that much more irritated with his own behavior. This was supposed to be a nice evening out with a friend, not....whatever it was turning into.

He glanced down at his now empty bottle at the offer, but he shook his head, set it aside. "No. But thanks anyway."

After a short pause, in which he watched his friend's reaction, Edgeworth gave him a curt nod. Rising gracefully to his feet, he moved across the room and disappeared into the dark hallway. A few moments later, there came the muffled sound of the door to the guest bathroom shutting.

Sigi, who'd watched his master go, seemed to take the sound as a cue. With his tail already beginning to wag, he whipped his head around and nuzzled the Corinthian's hand, giving it a wet lick for good measure.

Ugh. Dog drool. That brought the nightmare out of his thoughts rather quickly, and with a small annoyed frown he wiped his hand clean on his jeans.

"I'm starting to get the feeling this wasn't such a good idea, bud," he muttered, reaching for Sigi's ears mostly in an attempt to stop the dog from slobbering on him further. "So much for a nice night out with him...."

If Sigi understood his tone or body language, he gave no sigh. The dog leaned into his grip, his mouth hanging open in a canine grin as he looked up at the nightmare with half-lidded eyes and drank in the attention.

It wasn't until they heard the toilet flush that the dog moved again, lifting his head to stare at the door to the hall. There was a hissing sound, followed by the brief rush of running water, and Sieghard abandoned his temporary companion just in time to meet Edgeworth at the door to the foyer.

Edgeworth smiled down at the dog and scratched his shaggy mane, then went to refill his wine before taking his seat again.

"Sorry," he said, finally looking at the Corinthian again. "Am I keeping you from something? If you need to leave...we can always finish this some other time." There was a question underneath the question, an unspoken request for an explanation (or perhaps simply reassurance that nothing was really wrong).

"I don't want to leave." And again. It slipped out fast, but this time he corrected himself just as quickly, shook his head in growing exasperation. This was going to get old very quick, he could tell. "I mean, no, you're not keeping me from anything. I don't know what the hell's wrong with me today...."

This time, however, the thoughts that wanted to follow were cut off before they could get that far. And he sat in silence for a few moments, collected himself, regained his composure before he finally looked up at Edgeworth. He looked apologetic. "I'm sorry about this."

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