boxolawyers | (no subject)

Who: Edgeworth, The Corinthian
What: Inspired by this post. If Tyki made good on his threats to hide Edgeworth away on his world, there may be one person who could find him.
Where: The D.Gray-Man world.
When: Several days after Edgeworth's abduction.
Warnings: The aftermath of Very Bad Things, including rape and BDSM. ~~May~~ Will contain evidence or frank discussions thereof, reader discretion is advised.

By the time he woke, he couldn't remember the dream. All that lingered from it was a warm sense of reassurance that made his waking nightmare that much more painful. He groaned softly into the darkness—the monster was probably still gone, and even if he wasn't, at this point Edgeworth couldn't spare enough of his pride to care if Mikk heard. In only a matter of days he'd been stripped of so much of it. He had to save what was left, hoard every scrap for the important skirmishes.

He rolled over on the bed, or he would have, if he hadn't been left chained tightly to the head- and footboard. Slick satin sheets stuck to skin which he was beginning to think may never be clean again, clinging and damp and reeking of sex. A disappointed whimper escaped him before he could choke it down. Fighting a fleeting, traitorous desire for Mikk's return, he lay there and stared at the black ceiling.

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The wince didn't go unnoticed, and the nightmare backed away immediately. He clentched his fists, watched the man for a moment. But he held back whatever it was he wanted to say.

Instead, the nightmare left the room. It wasn't for long; after a few minutes of him shuffling things around somewhere down the hall, he returned with a blanket in hand, handing it to Edgeworth as he took a seat beside him, mindful to keep his distance.

"You know damn well what will happen when I do." He kept his voice low, as tightly under control as he could, but there was no hesitation to his words. There was no point in trying to hide what his intentions were this time, not in the face of something like this. "I'm going to make sure it doesn't fucking happen again."

Edgeworth looked him straight in the eye, expectant, stern. But when the nightmare suddenly disappeared from the room, his certainty faltered. He stared down the hall after him, unsure of what he was doing (what might be coming). His stomach gave a sick lurch as nervous anticipation suffused his body, and he had to turn away from that dark doorway, squeeze his eyes shut and massage his arm in an old, familiar gesture.

Thankfully, he managed to keep from starting when he registered the Corinthian's presence hovering before him, though his eyes shot open a bit too quickly. The blanket was a welcome sight. He laid it across his body, awkwardly tucking it in around his shoulders as tightly as he could while the nightmare said words he didn't want to hear.

"...You will try," he eventually replied. His gaze was fixed on the dark, red-brown stain marring his pristine carpet. "You will undoubtedly make things...extremely unpleasant for him. He's probably unwittingly forfeited all his restful nights from this point on. Beyond that..."

Wearily he turned to meet his friend's eyes. "Beyond that, there are no guarantees. He's more than a formidable opponent. He's untouchable."

And all at once, the Corinthian felt a small pang of guilt. His expression softened, the rage ebbing away just a little, and he ran a hand awkwardly through his hair as he looked away. Right. That wasn't what Edgeworth needed right now. He was still at a loss for what he did need, what else he could do for the situation, but dealing with the nightmare's own anger wasn't it, and he listened as calmly as he could.

His smirk came all too easily, though the voice behind it was still tight. "I'm a fucking nightmare, Edgeworth. Do you know just how much 'untouchable' means to something like me?"

In the guilt he read the stirrings of pity, and pity was the last thing he wanted to be the target of. When vexation presented itself in the form of the nightmare's obvious skepticism over his assessment of Mikk, he pounced on it readily.

"I have a very good idea." His tone was a subtle chastisement. Did he think Edgeworth would needlessly work himself up over a mediocre opponent? "And my assessment still stands. He is untouchable in a very literal sense. His mind may be vulnerable to you, but I'm not at all sure his body would be."

The tone wasn't lost on him, and the nightmare bristled just slightly under it, almost turned to him and almost snapped. He held it check, though nothing could hide the way his eyes narrowed.

"Then maybe his body won't be the part of him I bother with," he said after a pause.

Edgeworth narrowed his eyes in return, perfectly prepared to snap back if needed. Such a skirmish would almost be welcome, a temporary return to normalcy.

What the Corinthian did instead was less easy to respond to. He learned long ago what it meant to wish for brutal punishments to be doled out to someone who had wronged him. He had promised himself he would never walk that path again. He refused to allow someone else to walk it for him, yet...

"He's not alone. There's at least one other. He said she could enter dreams and nightmares. And he has other powers besides intangibility." A flash of purple fluttered through his mind, and he dropped his gaze with a shudder, suddenly aware of how little his position had actually changed. Hollowly, he continued. "He values his would-be friends on the community very highly. He won't allow anything or anyone to...tarnish their opinion of him."