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 this time he actually flinched. But rather than defending himself he turned away, and for the first time in their conversation he didn't answer. It was safer not to.

But still not safe enough. It wasn't too difficult for Edgeworth to put his refusal to speak together with what had already been said and come up with the answer he'd suspected for the past few minutes. His gaze hardened.

"You didn't intend to tell me this."

And there it was. The Corinthian gave a quiet sigh, reaching up to run a hand awkwardly through his hair.

"No." Finally, a little bit of blunt truth. "Everything was fine the way it was."

With that unequivocal statement, the reality of it hit him. Edgeworth's glare crumbled and he averted his eyes, looking down to find Sigi at his side, staring up at him questioningly. He let go of his sleeve and lowered his hand to tangle his fingers tightly in the dog's fur.

"How long?" His voice sounded hollow. "Why..." He let it trail off as he searched for a way to ask how this came about then realized the question probably couldn't be answered anyway.

"....a while," he admitted, hesitantly, and only after a long pause. "I couldn't even tell you when it actually started." Or much longer still it was before he could stop denying it to himself, or finally given in to the fact that nothing would come of it regardless....

"But does it really matter?"

It took him equally as long to answer.

"No. I suppose it doesn't." He frowned then finally raised his eyes to meet his friend's gaze again. There was no pity there, no anger...only regret.

"Corinthian..."

An all too easy look for him to read, and he could feel his throat tighten while everything else fell. He'd been right in keeping it to himself after all.

"Don't." It came faster than he intended, more urgent. It was hard to bottle it back down before he continued. "You weren't supposed to know. Just....don't."

He averted his gaze and fell silent for a moment. When he spoke again, his voice was curiously steady, almost monotonous.

"You know me well, Corinthian. In some ways, better than anyone else probably ever will. You know what I am and am not capable of."

He nodded, a bit absently, and looked away before giving his careful reply.

"I do."

After a moment, he met his friend's gaze again. His expression was as indecipherable as his tone had been; this time it was his voice that carried the evidence of his regret.

"I'm sorry...truly."

Another reflexive nod, and for one brief moment the nightmare's expression fell completely, the blank mask crumbling.

He'd been right. It wasn't necessarily a bad thought, but for some reason his chest grew even tighter. He'd already known this was exactly the answer he would get, if it ever came out. It wasn't as if it came as a surprise to him at all. He'd been prepared for it since he finally realized he thought of the other man that way.

So why did it still have to sting like it did....?

"Don't be." He shifted, hands going into his pockets for a lack of better things to do with them. He never actually met Edgeworth's eye. "....I should still go. I have other things to do."

The nightmare's mask fell--revealing what Edgeworth knew could only be a hint of what he'd just done to him--and Edgeworth's heart sank with it. His throat was tight. His breath caught in it, and he nodded.

"Will you be able to avoid...everyone else until this ends?"

"Yeah." And even if he couldn't, he'd just learn how to keep his mouth shut for a little while. Before he went amd fucked up anything else.

He paused, and when he finally looked back at him he almost looked like his usual self again. "I guess I'll talk to you later."

Edgeworth only hesitated a moment.

"You will."

It was a slightly surprising response, but one that earned a small smile, however forced. Afer another awkward moment he finally moved to the door again, and disappeared outside without another word.

Edgeworth's mask cracked briefly as he watched his friend walk away. He was grateful the Corinthian couldn't see it. Once he was alone, he spent longer than was necessary straightening up the living room and putting away the freshly cleaned wine glass. Sigi loped after him from one room to the next and on into the bedroom, where he settled into his dog bed. The apartment was quiet as Edgeworth finished his evening routine, turned off the lights, crawled into bed with langourous movements, and lay there, staring at the dreamcatcher in the corner of his room.

It was a long time before he finally fell asleep. He experienced no nightmares that night, only dim memories of warmth and a strong, generous body.

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[RL] It was only a matter of time

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I just want to hug him right now. ;3;

He needs one. ;;

/gives him one ;3;/

/clings forever ;3;

You know if there is a Cori and David thread you're required to share the link, right?