ACE ATTORNEY AU

[enigmaster]

Comments

[enigmaster]

Of course. [Just... don't worry about it, Oswald.] I'll see you later. Um... have a good day at work.

[agoodname]

Thank you. [it's impossible for him not to worry, but...at least this might help?] You, too. I'll see you tonight. [he retrieves his cane and there's a moment of hesitation by the door--like he wants to say something, and his heart's in his throat almost and it feels a bit like he's choking, but...no, at the last minute, he swallows it, and steps out]

1/2

[enigmaster]

[Edward stays for a little while longer, still, before he heads out as well. Honestly... he kind of goes looking for ghosts to help out. And there's a few. Nothing complex, just simple things. He can fit multiple of those in a day.

And then... and...

And then he ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓

.................................]

2/2

[enigmaster]

[...A ghost finds Edward, as the sun's going down. It's a very upset young woman. The locket she got as a gift from her sister was stolen. She doesn't ask, but it's obvious she wants it returned. So he goes to look for it. It's no surprise it turns up somewhere bad. The ghost, to her credit, is worried. She doesn't want him to go in just for this locket, it's important but not so important, it's too dangerous, it isn't worth it. And Edward ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓ He goes in. It isn't his greatest decision, maybe. Even he knows that much. He would've done this differently, otherwise. He's had to steal for ghosts before, but he knows how to do it well. These people aren't anything special, either. Just a few stupid guys who think they can make it here without joining up with a gang. It would've been easy, if he'd taken his time. He promised Oswald he'd be careful. And he fully intended to be. It isn't a conscious decision. It doesn't... even feel like he can hold himself back, it just... happens. It ends up with a punch to the face and the gut and then with him knocked over in the alley outside, before he's lifted up and slammed against the wall. It's three guys. One holding Edward, and two standing on either side. Surrounded.] "You must have some sort of death wish, pal, trying to steal from us! Huh?!" [Idly, Edward feels something cold against his cheek and a sharp... pain? ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓ a knife. That's bad. He knows that much, intellectually, but somehow... it doesn't... feel like it matters. None of this... feels like... it.... █████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████]

[agoodname]

[Butch gets the call around ten thirty. It almost surprises him to be hearing from Oswald again, especially with how angry Edward was about the whole thing. But no, it is from Oswald, and it is about the ghost thing. It's a fairly easy job, from the sounds of it. Just tail Edward. Apparently it's more for Oswald's sanity than Edward's safety, according to the lawyer. It should be fine. He shouldn't have to do anything, really. And considering what happened last time, Butch pretty much believes that. It's not too difficult to wait outside the building for Edward to appear, and then to tail him at a distance. He really kind of travels here, there and everywhere, so Butch gets a bit of a kick out of it. He just gets to spend the day following the ghost guy from a distance and watch him do his work. Most of the day is uneventful. But, like most things, it can't be that easy. It's nearing the end of the day when Edward starts heading towards a shadier part of town. Butch frowns but follows, slipping a little closer, but it's not until Edward stops in front of what is clearly the hideout of a couple small (but dangerous) fries that he starts to get concerned. Butch picks up his pace, following silently, reaching into his coat and adjusting his gun holster as he descends the stairs.] "--death wish, pal, trying to steal from us. Huh?!" [...that sure is a knife. And Butch sucks in a breath, moving a bit closer, silently, before he steps out of the shadows, hands clasped in front of him.] "I don't think you wanna do that, friend." [his voice is friendly--easy going]

[enigmaster]

[The guy pauses. The knife leaves Edward's cheek, though there's definitely blood on it. And the three of them turn.

Edward's less... aware of what's going on. He kind of... hears someone, sure, but right now he's not entirely... there.]

"And just who the hell are you?"

[It's very aggressive. The guy's holding his knife out threateningly.]

[agoodname]

[and Butch just smiles] "Someone who works for someone you don't wanna cross. Trust me." [and he's casually moving forward] "But hey! If you just hand that guy over to me, we can just forget the whole thing."

[enigmaster]

"Yeah... Don't think so."

[And Idiot #1 nods to Idiot #2. These guys are dangerous to your average Gotham citizen, but that doesn't mean they're very bright. And uh, that second idiot's just... pulling a knife out too, just going for Butch because clearly that's smart.]

[agoodname]

[and Butch just kind of....sighs. And he just kind of stands there as the guy gets close--and as soon as he swings out with the knife, he's catching his wrist, easily spinning the guy around and twisting that arm back up behind his back, while at the same time retrieving the knife and pressing it to his jugular. Idiot #2 practically yelps in surprise, and Butch tsks] "Listen, buddy, I didn't want to do this the hard way. But if your friends don't let mine walk away right now, I'm afraid I'm going to have to do something you'll regret." [again, still delivered in that calm, patient tone.] "And I'll be honest with you: I don't really want to do that. I like this suit, and blood isn't easy to get out, y'know?"

[enigmaster]

[Idiot #3...

...Well, actually, Guy #3 is the smartest one here, because he curses under his breath after seeing that and just books it. Bye bitches, he's out.

Idiot #2 is sweating bullets over here.]

"O-Okay, yeah, got it! W-We can go, yeah?"

[The little ringleader is... not happy about any of this. And he releases Edward. Kind of... harshly, Edward does kind of drop to the ground (he doesn't look great), but he's out of direct danger.]

"...Fine, whatever. This ain't worth the trouble."

[agoodname]

"I didn't think so either." [and Butch releases Idiot #2 with a pat on the shoulder] "There. Off you go."

[enigmaster]

[Yep, and Idiot #2 is off as well, clearly spooked. Can't blame him. Idiot #1 lingers, clearly pissed, but he also gets out of there. So. Now it's just Butch and Edward. Edward, currently, sitting a little slumped on the ground. He just barely managed to catch himself when he got dropped, it seems.]

[agoodname]

[and Butch watches them go, calmly, before striding over and crouching down in front of Edward] "Hey. How's it going, Eddie?"

[enigmaster]

[█████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████ ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░......... And suddenly Edward is painfully aware of everything. Like the fact that everything kind of hurts, for one. It's not great. He looks up at Butch. There's a long cut on his cheek and he's got... kind of a nasty looking black eye.] Um. [Very eloquent.] ...Been better, I guess. [He's a little confused. About how Butch is here.]

[agoodname]

"Yeah. No kiddin'." [he offers him a hand, moving to pull Edward to his feet] "What made you come down here, huh?"

[enigmaster]

[Edward's pulled up. He wobbles a little as he stands up, though, not... doing great.] ...Had to get something. [And. Yeah, he's holding something in his hand. A necklace?] I guess... um... it didn't go so well...

[agoodname]

"Yeah, I'm gettin' that vibe." [Butch frowns a bit at that locket, noting it, before bringing his eyes back up to Edward, hand reaching out to rest on his shoulder and steady him] "So what'd they do? You kind look like you could use a visit to the doctor just to make sure you don't have any internal bleeding or anything."

[enigmaster]

[Yeah, he kind of... needs to be steadied.] Oh, um... I just got hit a couple times. I'll be fine, really... [It happens.]

[agoodname]

"No offense, Eddie, but you look about dead on your feet. And maybe some internal bleeding. Sure you don't wanna get checked out? Just to be safe?"

[enigmaster]

I don't think it's that bad... [Yeah, well, you're maybe not the best judge actually, Edward.] Just, um... gotta find my glasses, that's all. [Those are... nearby, on the ground. But he's not gonna have much luck finding those on his own.]

[agoodname]

[Butch huffs a bit at that] "Hold on--stay there." [and he's going to walk over and retrieve them. He can't force Edward to go to the hospital or the doctor. But he has a feeling that Oswald might be able to. Anyway, he comes back with the glasses, and holds them out.]

[enigmaster]

[Yep, taking those and putting them on. Good, he can see again. It does not make the black eye look any better.] Um... Thank you. [He doesn't... just mean for the glasses.]

[agoodname]

"No problem. Let's get you home and at least get some ice on that eye, yeah? You got a hell of a shiner."

[enigmaster]

[Edward hesitates a moment, looking down at the locket in his hand, but... he puts it in his pocket. It's safe, now, so he can do something with this another day. ...His eye does kind of hurt.] ...Okay. Sure.

[agoodname]

[yeah he's going to note that hesitation--and the locket] "...we'll take care of that later, okay? Don't worry." [and he's going to reach out and gently clasp his shoulder, steering him out but also steading him]