A fiasco.
Guilty, but a fiasco nonetheless.
The verdict was guilty, and that was what mattered. At least, that is what Manfred von Karma kept telling himself. Despite the penalty, despite his ruined perfect record, the final verdict had been guilty. The road to the verdict didn't matter. That's what he kept telling himself. ... It wasn't working. The prosecutor was a wreck – and it was all that foolish, imperfect, rude, disrespectful, defense attorney's fault.
Gregory Edgeworth.
Gregory Edgeworth.
Gregory Edgeworth.
That name infuriated him. He felt almost ill just thinking about that man, and sank into the sofa. He was in the prosecution lobby, if you could call it that. He'd absolutely stormed in here, sending anyone unfortunate enough to get in his way fleeing in terror. Manfred crumpled the case files he still held and threw them on the floor just as the door opened.
".. Manfred?"
Oh, hell no. No, no, no. He looked up, sneering. There was the fool of a defense attorney in all his foolishness. Precisely the person he did not want to speak with or even be near at this moment.
The defense attorney approached slowly, like Manfred might spook and flee. For each step the fool took, Manfred scowled even more. When Gregory was a yard from the sofa, Manfred stood up and attempted to look menacing. He succeeded, of course, but that didn't deter the younger man.
Gregory Edgeworth took several rapid steps and wrapped his arms around the prosecutor. A hug. Manfred froze, his eyes widening. The threatening expression vanished, briefly replaced by confusion then anger and shock . He recoiled, attempting and failing to shove the defense away. Gregory's grip was firm, unrelenting.
"W-what are you doing!? Fool! R-release me this instant! You- .. get-..." Manfred stopped fairly quickly, conserving his breath instead – Gregory was squeezing him, and he was a little afraid he'd suffocate. The prosecutor had... never been hugged before.
Defense attorney continued to tightly hug the god of prosecution, resting his head on Manfred's shoulder. Gregory might as well have been hugging a statue, at first, but, very slowly, Manfred relaxed somewhat. Then, finally, very awkwardly and hesitantly, the older man returned the hug. The defense attorney smiled. This was good.
It was a long hug, and when Gregory pulled away, he almost had to peel the older man off. Gregory casually slung an arm around Manfred, who cringed and recoiled. A small hand wrapped around his other hand, startling the prosecutor. He hadn't noticed Gregory's son was in the room – Miles Edgeworth, wasn't that his name...? The child smiled hesitantly at Manfred, receiving a blank scowl in return.
Gregory, smiling still, led both the unhappy prosecutor and his son out of the lobby.