ACE ATTORNEY AU

[enigmaster]

Comments

[agoodname]

Can I ask you about Halloween?

[enigmaster]

[And... Oswald will probably feel Edward tensing up, at that. There's silence, at first.] ...What about it?

[agoodname]

Just...what happened? You mentioned getting trapped in a small space, but...I can't see that happening on accident.

[enigmaster]

...It... didn't, no. [Edward's quiet a bit more, again. Looking at his phone, before putting it down and... sitting up a bit more.] It was, um... It's kind of a whole thing, I guess...

[agoodname]

[Oswald sits up a bit, too, but still stays close, so he can look at Edward] What happened?

[enigmaster]

Um... Okay. So... [Edward swallows. This isn't a story he's shared before.] So back in high school, when I was fifteen... Well. I'd switched schools a lot, already, and when I got to that one the rumors about me kind of started early. It... wasn't great. It made it kind of hard to really talk to anyone, you know? But, um... There was this boy. Thomas, but insisted on being called Tommy... He wasn't scared off by the things people were saying about me. He thought it was really interesting, actually. That's what he said, when he sought me out to talk about it.

[agoodname]

["Interesting."

Ah.

Well.]

So...he wanted to talk to you about the rumors surrounding you.

[enigmaster]

Yeah. He kind of liked, um. Standing out, you know. [All about the attention. That kind.] And I really stood out, so I guess that's what made me interesting to him. And we just kind of started... hanging out? He didn't really... He never said anything bad about the ghosts thing, you know? I don't think he believed it, but it didn't push him away, either, and back then that was enough. We spent a lot of time together. I kind of... liked him, back then, but probably just because he was the only person who actually talked to me. Because I never really liked the same things as him or anything. I did a bunch of things I didn't really like, at all, because I was just... scared he'd get tired of me and leave.

[agoodname]

...I can understand that. [boy can he. and his hand shifts to rest on Edward's knee again, supportive]

[enigmaster]

...It wasn't really a great time, looking back at it, but it was... what I had, you know? [Between that or nothing, he thought it was better. When you're starving, even rotten food can look good.] But, um... things got a little weird between us. I don't know how, exactly... I thought maybe I said the wrong thing to him a few times or... maybe he was just getting bored of me. I don't know. [...] ...Then, um. Our school was doing a bunch of things for Halloween. Well, you know Gotham, they were... really going all out. You know?

[agoodname]

As they always do, yes.

[enigmaster]

Mhm. They were setting it up in advance, working hard on it and everything. There was this whole haunted house they were doing and everything. ...And Tommy, he said there was something he wanted to do. So, um. It wasn't a school day, but we broke in. To take a look at everything. He said... it'd be fun. [Edward swallows, nervously. Breathing out for a moment.] He wanted to mess around with stuff. Break some of it, I don't know, he has a shitty sense of humor. But I didn't... really want to.

[agoodname]

Of course not. That doesn't sound like you at all. [gently, thumb petting against the fabric at Edward's knee. Again: soothing]

[enigmaster]

I got into trouble a lot for doing stuff I didn't do. I didn't just want to prove people right, you know? ...It kind of turned into a whole thing. I guess. I just wanted to leave, honestly. But... [...] There was this... prop coffin, there...

[agoodname]

[ah. He sees where this is going] Ah. Just big enough for a teenage boy?

[enigmaster]

...Yeah. Just about. [He's quiet, for a moment.] He thought it was fitting, you know. Because I have the whole death thing going on and... all of that. He forced me in and... then I couldn't get out anymore. I'm pretty sure he just left right after. [Because why would he stick around?] I didn't actually get out until the next day, when someone was checking the props. They kind of freaked out, but I guess I must've looked pretty dead after a whole day in there, so... I can't blame them.

[agoodname]

[Tommy. Someone named Tommy is going to die very soon. Oswald swallows a bit, and refocuses on Edward] ...I'm sorry. That's horrible.

[enigmaster]

It... was kind of awful, yeah. I got in trouble for it, too, because I guess the school assumed I was trying to scare someone on purpose. [It was not... a great time.] I didn't correct them.

[agoodname]

Idiots. [harshly--but then he swallows and reigns it in] Absolute worthless imbeciles, the lot of them.

[enigmaster]

Mhm. I didn't really care. They suspended me, but I just... couldn't go back there again.

[agoodname]

I can certainly see why. [he pauses for a moment, and squeezes his knee gently] ...thank you for telling me. [like he's not already making a list of the people he's going to murder for this.]

[enigmaster]

Ah... [...] ...Sure. [Sure, he says, like it was easy. But it... wasn't.] ...I've never really told anyone before.

[agoodname]

Then...I'm glad you told me. And I appreciate it. [he does, too. It...makes him feel trusted. With such a secret, how could he not? Something Edward's never told others...Oswald swallows] I understand why you hate Halloween.

[enigmaster]

...Yeah. Just. Bad memories, you know? [Edward fidgets a little, looking away.] Can't look at any decorations without being... reminded. [It's a real big trigger.] ...I kind of shut down for a while, afterwards.

[agoodname]

.....ah. The grocery store. When you left early to go outside.