#the past never dies (hawthorne verse)

[thegrapesdepression]

Phoenix tries to keep breathing and conscious throughout the commotion as his companions faint and the police suspend Yomiel in interrogation. But is it Yomiel? Even as shaken as he is, Phoenix can see how differently that man behaves compared to the one who proxy-pulled the trigger earlier. Perhaps this is another possession situation.

Whatever. All he cares about for now is the relief of the oxygen and painkillers as he's carted into an ambulance and driven to the hospital. Exhaustion, shock, and injury all pull him back down into unconsciousness soon enough once he arrives at the hospital.

Sweet, delicious rest.

Larry is sitting nearby when Phoenix wakes again, slow and groggy. He can still feel how his chest numbly aches but it's not as bad now, and his bleary state of kind likely comes more from medication. He blinks at his old friend and tries to remember how to smile.

#itsgottabethebutz #iustitia calengiare (ic) #court is now in session (ic) #the past never dies (hawthorne verse)

[thegrapesdepression]

Even with a helping hand, it's harder to move himself as a spirit than he had expected. He probably wouldn't be able to be present at all if a similarly deceased spirit medium didn't have a choking grip on his shirt and hoodie. Compared to her old student, Mia looks as splendid as the days when she was alive. Phoenix, unfortunately, still had his bullet wounds and bloodstains; the whole shebang showing off how truly awful the last week has been. he makes his lack of muscles finally sit up as Mia helps drag him upright.

"I was hoping you wouldn't be joining me so soon."

"Me, too." He's too tired to try to think of a funny response, just staring up at Mia's face and taking in her presence after years of absence. "Sorry I'm kind of a wreck right now, Chief."

She shakes her head and sighs with a wry smile. "Phoenix... Now is not the time to start pouring out your postmortem regrets. You have a long way to go still." Her grip on Phoenix's clothes eases, but she points across the room ahead of him. He turns to look. If he were alive, he would've turned white as a ghost at the sight of the two spirits standing and arguing over his dead body.

Dahlia. As horrific in spirit form as he remembers--a strange counterpoint to Mia's calm humanity. Phoenix feels sick for a moment before he begins processing the conversation. Then he starts laughing, no longer held back by a physically injured chest. The irony laid out before him cracks him up almost as frighteningly as the Manipulator had after that moment of death. Perhaps there's some satisfaction in seeing his old flame's cruelty turned on another tormentor.

"I told you, idiot."

#iustitia calengiare (ic) #the past never dies (hawthorne verse)

[thegrapesdepression]

@prodigyxprosecutor continued from here

Trucy breathed a sigh of relief when that half-familiar, firm voice answered. "Mr. Edgeworth! I... I'll get right to the point. Polly and Daddy are arguing about something terrible and I think we're leaving the agency for a while... Can you come pick me up from the park?"

Standing out at the corner of People's Park in her plainest street clothes with a duffel bag over one shoulder was less than pleasant, but it was better than that apparent shouting match.

#prodigyxprosecutor #iustitia calengiare (ic) #court is now in seasion (rp) #the past never dies (hawthorne verse)

[thegrapesdepression]

“I just got clear of spending 7 years chasing a serial killer and raising a child. Why can’t I catch a break yet?”

#iustitia calengiare (ic) #the past never dies (hawthorne verse)

[thegrapesdepression]

Wow, good thing he’s sleeping so peacefully when nothing is wrong and vitally personal information is safely out of certain people’s hands.

#iustitia calengiare (ic) #the past never dies (hawthorne verse) #itsgottabethebutz #aptlyattorney #this is nothing i'm just

[thegrapesdepression]

[text] hi nick hAv u herd from Apollo??? I hAvent herd from him inA few dAyz so I wuz thking he might b w u? Aslo do u need snAx -lArry

With Trucy holed up with Edgeworth and Phoenix demanding he be released early, he had dug up an emergency stash and gotten a cheap motel room until he, Larry, and Apollo figured out where to go and what to do. He felt disgustingly helples; it was next to impossible to reach anyone he knew in Kurain but he had at least learned that Maya was abroad and Pearl was on a retreat. His two trusted mediums were out of reach. So he had no choice but to wait, drink, and depend on his comrades' contacts to come through.

Picking up on Larry's text distracted Phoenix from cutting his cheap wine with regular grape juice and he paused. Picked up the phone.

[text] i havnt seen him today. thought h e was meetng someone.

[text] call him??

[text] larry whered you last see him

#itsgottabethebutz #iustitia calengiare (ic) #cross examination (asks) #court is now in session (rp) #the past never dies (hawthorne verse)

[thegrapesdepression]

Do you have a plan for this ghost, Phoenix?

“...”

“...I have no idea what to do.”

#iustitia calengiare (ic) #cross examination (asks) #the past never dies (hawthorne verse) #Anonymous

[thegrapesdepression]

[text] hey nick its lArry i hop ur doin ok

Good ol’ Butz. The man cropped up at the oddest moments. Phoenix sighed quietly and waffled for a long moment with his phone in his hand, then texted back.

[text] you know me. i’m chugging along.

[text] i hope you’re safe and well too, pal.

#iustitia calengiare (ic) #cross examination (asks) #the past never dies (hawthorne verse) #itsgottabethebutz

[thegrapesdepression]

There's a faint, unsteady knocking at the door of the office. It's ten minutes after closing, but he was sure .. someone had to still be here.

Tonight was, in at least this one way, Apollo’s lucky night. Phoenix had been sulking for the last couple days. Many people would see it as sulking but it was really just guilty moping that usually found him curled up on the couch, sprawled in his bedroom, sipping whatever fruit juices helped him nurse his drinking urges without actual alcohol. His guilty moping episodes often made him further guilty because it often meant he couldn’t muster the energy to go to “work” or even to Trucy’s shows. To put it simply, he almost never left the agency during these episodes.

He almost didn’t have the energy to get up and answer the door, either, but something about that weak knocking touched his sense of suspicion. He lifted his head and looked at the door for a moment before slowly, slowly heaving himself to his feet to open the door.

He did not enjoy what he saw. “...Apollo???”

#cross examination (asks) #iustitia calengiare (ic) #the past never dies (hawthorne verse) #aptlyattorney