shroudedinsecrecy | INBOX (IC)

[Edgeworth halts in his tracks when he sees the memory play out, eyes widening. He sees Phoenix as a college student; he's seeing it all from the point of view of Iris disguised as Dahlia. If he hadn't known the full story, he would have wondered why he was seeing one of Dahlia's memories.

And when it's over, he shakes his head to clear it and looks around for Iris.]

Iris! I saw...

[His voice trails off. No doubt she would be feeling the effects of showing her memory of Phoenix. No doubt Edgeworth had come in contact with that goat.]

[She'd already turned back at the sound of his voice--]

You saw...?

[But before she had a chance to feel those memory effects...she, too, brushed against a certain invisible ~~spirit~~ animal. This time, Edgeworth's. With all the flash of memories that came with it.]

[And when Iris brushes against the cat, two things happen. One, Edgeworth feels the familiar wave of vertigo and sways on the spot.

Two, Iris will see this memory from a nine-year-old boy's point of view. This boy is standing next to a man in a suit just outside the courtroom, and this man is proudly wearing a defense attorney's badge.

"I know you'll win, Father," the boy proclaims proudly as the man squeezes his little hand.

"I'll do my best, Miles," the man replies. "I believe our client isn't guilty, and I will prove it." He ruffles the hair of little Miles and places a hand on his back, ushering him into the courtroom.]

[The images flashed before her, and even before they faded, Iris had fallen to her knees. Weak. The room--both imagination as well as the real one--seemed to spin around her, and she rose a hand to her head in hopes of alleviating the nauseating sensation.]

That was...oh, my head.

[She bowed her head low, letting out a small whimper.]

[Edgeworth feels like he's on a ship on a violently rolling sea, but he spots Iris fallen on her knees and swoops down on her to help her up. In the process, he drops his towel.]

T-That was more than just your head. And...a-and mine.

[He braces one hand against her back and extends the other for her to take, his own knees weakening.]

[~~Remind her to feel embarrassed about this later~~]

I saw...

There was a man. And he...I think he was talking to you. Only...you were just a child.

[~~Duly noted. Also note that without his towel, his shirtlessness is once again in full view and very close to her.~~]

[He grits his teeth with the effort of remaining upright and holding Iris up as well. And her words tug at his heart. She saw his past...she saw him as a child. But which man did she see him with? Gregory Edgeworth...or Manfred von Karma?]

What did the man look like?

[~~Preceisely why she will feel embarassed, At least she's currently wearing her highly modest acolyte robes?~~]

He looked...

['like you', she wanted to say, but instead tried to focus on the details of her memory.]

He was...tall. I think. With grey hair. Glasses. A...trench coat, I think. And his eyes...he had such kind eyes.

[~~And Edgeworth is totally oblivious to the effect he's having on her right now because this memory thing is a lot more important.~~

He relaxes a little while he's still holding her in his arms. So, she saw a memory of his father. Not Manfred von Karma, the man who would never be a father to him. But there's a tinge of sadness in Edgeworth's eyes, and in his voice.

Gregory DID have kind eyes. It's a pity his son's eyes are a lot less kind.]

I...I see. Were we...at the courthouse?

I...think so. It looked like the room I was told to wait in before my trial started.

[But why would Edgeworth and his father be in that same room? What was it they'd been talking about...? Something about...winning?]

He mentioned a...client. About believing he was innocent.

...That was my father, Iris. He was a defense attorney.

[Edgeworth may as well say it. Besides, she might have also learned that from the memory itself.]

A...defense attorney...

[Unlike...just about everyone else in their world who knew Edgeworth, Iris only had the experience of watching him Defend her in court. She knew he was a Prosecutor. She knew that those had not only been extenuating circumstances that saw him on her side, but that he'd had to deceive multiple people in order to make it happen. A one time deal. For her sake, but also for Phoenix's.]

[As such, rather than seem surprised at his father's choice of profession...she smiled softly.]

I see where you get it from.

...

[Edgeworth had gotten that so many times back home. But now it gives him...a great sense of pride to be compared to his father. He can't help but smile softly, looking a touch sheepish in the process.]

Er...thank you. I don't know what he'd say if he found out about how I defended you, however.

I'm sure he would have been as proud as I was grateful. After all, you...

[She trailed off as she looked up at him. Really looked. Because it was then she realized that, within her line of vision aimed at his face, she could also see his shoulders. Bare shoulders. And a quick glimpse down showed--]

[The tiniest squeak of embarrassment followed as her head darted away so he wouldn't see the way she turned into a bright tomato.]

...Deceived a judge and illegally posed as a defense attorney.

[He finishes her sentence dryly as he finally lets go of her. It looks like she can stand again.]

But the truth, at least, was brought to light. And so was your innocence.

Edited 2016-07-30 00:55 (UTC)

[Stand? Yes. Make eye contact? ...not for the next several minutes. Minimum.]

You saved my life.

No other defense attorney would have believed me. But...you did. Enough to risk so much on my behalf.

Wright was the first to believe you. In fact...he was the one I saw in your memory.

[Yet again, Edgeworth doesn't notice Iris averting her eyes for most of this conversation. He does bend down to pick up his towel though.]

He...was?

[It was her turn to wonder what he saw. So distracted by his memory, it had yet to dawn on her to ask.]

Yes. I presume this was when he was in college.

[And distracted by his body y/n]

[There was the smallest of flinches, before she remembered...ah, Edgeworth would have already known about that, wouldn't he? Her deception.]

[And besides...not all of those memories from that time were bad. In fact, some of them...]

Might I ask...what...exactly you saw?

You were posing as Dahlia. [At least he's just stating the facts. He doesn't sound like he's judging her.] Wright, of course, didn't know the truth yet, and this was before he was accused of murder, I believe.

[She knew he wasn't judging. He knew the story. And yet...]

It feels so wrong to say, considering everything, but...that was truly one of the happiest times of my life.

I only wish...I had been honest with him. That I'd told him before Dahlia decided to act on her own.

It's too late to change the past, but Wright has already accepted you despite that, has he not?

[Still stating the facts, but Edgeworth is well aware that Phoenix has more than accepted Iris.]

...he has, yes.

[She wasn't about to argue that. He'd more than accepted her; he'd accepted her back into his life. And heart. More than she could ever have hoped for.]

It's just...still hard. Especially when it feels like this place enjoys having my past come back to haunt me.

I understand how you feel. [He nods slowly. Edgeworth is one who doesn't like being reminded constantly of the past.]

It's difficult, but we can only move forward...no matter what happens next in Cerealia.

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shroudedinsecrecy - 2016-08-08 18:37 (UTC) - Expand

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prosecutory - 2016-08-09 13:10 (UTC) - Expand