[4th wall]

[miniworth]

[ The feed sputters on to one Miles Edgeworth giving the network the most confused face. ]

I woke up this morning and went outside for a walk... did the hotel in Olivine always have this wriggling piece of plywood outside its doors?

[ He pans the camera around to show a ragged-looking mascot dancing pitifully, on and on. ]

Comments

[miniworth]

He did... about you, as well.

[ It had been one of the first things he learned from Ken, back when the boys related to each other mostly through shared feelings regarding their parents. ]

[useddeathbound.livejournal.com]

[He'd be lying if he said he was surprised to hear that. It may be noticable how he lowers his head a little, but without the beanie on that doesn't quite obscure his eyes.]

...

I see.

[miniworth]

[ But Miles is short, looking up at Shinjiro. He can still see his eyes easily. ]

... It's not about revenge. [ That's not what Ken's life should be about. ]

[useddeathbound.livejournal.com]

Not anymore, huh. [He'd hoped it wouldn't be.]

[miniworth]

He tried to stop you. From dying. [ And when he couldn't, there was attempted drowning. ]

[useddeathbound.livejournal.com]

You know I would've died one way or another, right? [Suppressants can do that... do do that, without fail.]

[miniworth]

It wouldn't have been from protecting him. [ It's just that tiny, meaningless comfort. ]

[useddeathbound.livejournal.com]

Why does that matter so much? [Wasn't it better the way it happened?]

[miniworth]

... [ You forced him to watch two murders. ]

[useddeathbound.livejournal.com]

... [ He saw someone die that he'd been meaning to kill himself. ]

[miniworth]

[ Not this Ken. This Ken wanted to stop that. ]

I want to be able to protect him. [ Not the kind of thing one eleven year old would say about his best friend, but he means it. ]

[useddeathbound.livejournal.com]

From what? [Unconciously, Shinji speaks more quietly as well. But his is still a gruff voice, so it does next to nothing to really soften it.]

[miniworth]

Whatever that tries to harm him. [ Whether it be Strega or Team Rocket or even Ken himself. ] It's something I wasn't able to do for my father.

[useddeathbound.livejournal.com]

...


You're a good [kid-]friend. [It's a good thing Ken found someone like you.]

[miniworth]

[ At this moment he gets flustered-- embarrassed, pleased mostly. Friends weren't something Miles did well with, having walked away from his last ones without a word. ]

I-I'm not really-- .... Thank you.

[useddeathbound.livejournal.com]

[A half-shrug half-nod. Shinji doesn't give compliments he doesn't mean.]

[miniworth]

Ken was-- he was one of the first people I met here my age. [ There had been Luke, too, but there was something very different about Ken and Luke. Ken he related to more. ]

[useddeathbound.livejournal.com]

How long ago was that? [ Because it's obvious they're really close, and that doesn't just happen over night. ]

[miniworth]

We first spoke to at the end of November, and met in Goldenrod in December. [ And inseparable since. ]