Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

March 21, 2018, 5:15 pm

In the midst of one of the worst cases he had been on to date, just when he thought it couldn’t get any worse, he showed back up. While Franziska was attempting to fire Gumshoe of all things. “Quiet! If it weren't for traitors like you...”

"‘I would've won.’ Is that what you want to say?” he interrupted.

“...! Wh-Who!?” she spun around to see the speaker.

“That voice... E-Edgeworth!!” Phoenix felt as if he was going to be sick. There’s no way… Edgeworth was gone, right?

“It's been a long time... Wright.” Goddammit, he didn’t need to be dealing with this right now.

He heard Pearl ask, “Th-This person... This is Mr. Edgeworth?”

“What am I going to do with you...?” Edgeworth said, speaking directing to von Karma, “Still blaming others when things go wrong? You haven't changed a bit, Franziska.”

“... Y... You...” The expression on Franziska’s face changed rapidly from happy to mournful to angry in the span of a millisecond, like she couldn’t decide which emotion described how she felt to see Edgeworth again. Unfortunately for Edgeworth, the wheel seemed to land on ‘anger.’ “How dare you show your face to me without a shred of shame upon it!? You've soiled the Von Karma name and dragged it through the mud. Run away with your tail between your legs like the ill-bred dog you are!” She said gripping her whip threateningly.

“Are you talking about the Von Karma family creed? ‘To be perfect in every way...’” Edgeworth recited mockingly, “Then let's hear it, Franziska. How are things going? I hear you are having a rough time maintaining perfection in this country.”

“Y-You!”

“You seem to be getting crushed under the weight of it all. That's why I came back.” He said smugly.

“Keep your assumptions to yourself! I... I haven't given in yet! I won't lose! This case is mine! I'll never hand it over to you! Never!” she turned to look at Phoenix directly, glaring daggers at him, “Mr. Phoenix Wright! I will see you tomorrow... In court. It will be a clinical lesson on the meaning of ‘total victory’!” Franziska exclaimed before storming off.

“Hmph. Still the same wild mare she always was,” Edgeworth said to no one in particular.

Phoenix was in shock. No way this was actually real. Surprisingly, the other two did not seem to be as shocked as he was that Edgeworth was not actually dead. Franziska seemed angry enough, but not as though she thought he was actually gone. Hell, he knew she didn’t think so, remembering she had said before that she wanted to see ‘him’ again. Gumshoe looked like he was not expecting Edgeworth to be there, but not at all surprised to see him alive. Was he the only person who didn’t know? That thought made this all hurt more.

“I’m surprised you don’t have more to say to me, Wright,” the smug bastard said.

That’s it, he had too much going on to deal with his fucking attitude.

“Are you fucking serious? I thought you, fucking Prosecutor Miles Edgeworth, had gone and died!” he snapped at him.

He heard Pearl gasp from behind him, whoops, he had forgotten she was with him. He’ll apologize for the swearing when he’s not so worked up, but this guy needs to hear some things first.

“I… I never wanted to see you again!”

“I think that's enough of a ‘warm welcome’ for someone you haven't seen in a year...” Edgeworth said.

At that, Phoenix immediately decked him in the face. Edgeworth clutched his face in pain, his nose beginning to bleed.

“Mr. Nick!” he heard Pearl cry out. Sorry Pearls…

“I suppose I deserved that,” Edgeworth muttered out through clenched teeth.

“Jesus, both of you take this outside,” Gumshoe said, dragging both of them out the front door.

“Me and the kid are gonna get you two some ice, you both need to calm the hell down,” he said as he went back inside.

They both sat down on the steps in the uncomfortable silence.

“Next time you want to assault me, maybe wait until we are not inside the Criminal Affairs department,” Edgeworth said.

“Yeah… not my brightest moment, I…haven’t been thinking clearly lately,” he was quiet for a moment before asking, “Are you going to run tomorrow’s trial?”

Edgeworth laughed, “You heard her, right? That wild mare hasn’t given in yet, it seems. So, no, I don’t think I’ll be making an appearance. Besides, she seems determined to defeat you in court, she would never let me take away her possible chance of a hollow victory.”

Wright laughed sadly, “Call me one-hit wonder Goyte because that sounds like somebody I used to know.”

“A year later and your jokes still suck,” he teased, “You know… your hatred for me is quite unhealthy. Not to mention one-sided. But I will say one thing…You can’t win on your own at the trial tomorrow.”

What? What the hell is that supposed to mean?

“I have something definitive that you lack, and that’s the definition of teamwork,” he said matter-of-factly, not as if he was saying the dialogue of a fucking Disney Channel protagonist, “It’s the power to find the truth.”

“The truth?”

Edgeworth nodded, “In order to understand this case, you have to understand a certain ‘truth’. ...Well, if you ever feel the need for my assistance, it is available to you. I'm not in charge of this case, so I can be a bit more generous with information.”

God, cryptic as always. Just what is going on inside his head?

“You know what? I’ll take you up on that offer. Do you know anything about Celeste Inpax?”

After discussing details pertaining to the current case, Phoenix seemed to have a lead on what to investigate next. Only one problem…

“Geez, Gumshoe is sure taking his time getting ice, my fist is gonna be fully healed by the time he gets back.”

“I have a feeling that may be a cover to get us to ‘talk our problems out’. He’s the kind of person that would do that,” Edgeworth says. He thinks back to the case where he first met Gumshoe… he wouldn’t be surprised if he was buying the young Fey child a vending machine snack as well. Hopefully she wasn’t too shaken up about the whole scenario.

Phoenix asked, “Mi- uh, Edgeworth?”, He felt weird going back to first name basis so soon, it felt too…personal, “Can I ask you a question? Might as well in this forced intervention.”

“I don’t see why not.”

“Earlier, Franziska said something to you about ruining the von Karma name or something like that. Is that all because of that case?” Wright asked, referring to last December’s case, where the truth of dl-6 was brought to light.

“It’s not that simple,” Edgeworth sighs, “A lot of things may have happened; however, Manfred von Karma was still my mentor. Despite everything my deeds are attached to his name. And a ‘perfect win record’ is proof of a von Karma. I no longer have that,” he laughed as though he had a striking realization, “though at this point, neither does she.”

“Wait...are you serious? A year ago, you couldn’t establish guilt in a few cases... Are those losses the reason you suddenly disappeared from the Prosecutor's Office? Did you leave because you had lost your ‘perfect win record’...?” Phoenix asked bewildered.

Edgeworth said nothing, just looked down at his hands as he fidgeted. He didn’t know how to say that maybe at one point that was his motivation, the need to feel like he had something to prove to make up for his shortcomings. Miles had thought he’d known that deep inside, he wasn’t a good person and didn’t deserve the prestige, but had to convince everyone else otherwise. How do you even begin to describe feeling that way for years, only to have the rug abruptly pulled from under your feet, to know that everything you thought true to be a lie? So, he didn’t bother to try and explain, and Phoenix had no way of knowing what the other man was thinking.

Phoenix continued, voice rising slightly from his anger, “To think your motivation for prosecuting trials was so selfish... It'd been better for everyone if you never came back from the dead, Edgeworth!”

Edgeworth visibly grimaced at this. Phoenix almost wanted to feel bad, maybe he was being too harsh. But he stood by what he said.

Edgeworth spoke up with, “... I see. Then let me ask you something, Wright. Why do you stand in the courtroom? What is your reason?”

Phoenix laughed, “Well, if it was Franziska you were asking, the answer would be something like, to defeat Phoenix Wright.”

Miles laughed at this, “Yeah that sounds like her, certainly. I’m not asking for Franziska’s reason though, Wright, I’m asking for yours.”

“I’m getting there. The point is...” Wright began, “I don’t think the courtroom is a personal battlefield for prosecutors and lawyers. I stand in the courtroom to defend my client. ...To save their lives.”

“To save your client, you say?”

Phoenix nodded. “Those who think only of their own ego-driven goals... Those kinds of prosecutors are reprehensible to me. Even if you're a ‘prodigy’... Or even someone like you, Edgeworth...” Phoenix expected Edgeworth to look pained and regretful again from his stinging words, yet instead he had the look of someone who just heard a joke.

“... It looks like there is still a lot you have yet to learn, Wright.”

Phoenix was not even more confused, the nerve of this guy! “The hell do you mean there’s ‘A lot I have yet to learn’?”

Edgeworth shook his head, “Well, that's enough for now. The time when you will see ‘what the hell I mean’ is coming soon enough...”

“God it’s like talking to the Riddler…”

“What?”

“You know, the guy from Batman? He talks in riddles and shit?”

“That’s- I know who- I meant that it’s not a riddle, Wright, it’s not that complicated. Whatever,” Edgeworth got frustrated.

Gumshoe and Pearl finally make an appearance, “Sorry it took so long pal, we… uh, had a hard time finding any ice packs but we found something eventually!” he says holding out two Ziploc bags full of half melted ice. Pearl was still eating some vending machine Little Debbie snack. Very believable Gumshoe.

“Thanks Gumshoe,” he said taking the ice anyways.

“I shouldn’t keep you from your investigation for much longer,” Edgeworth said, standing up to head back inside, “I’ll be here if you require any further assistance with this case. Think about what I said, Wright.”

He nodded. Pearl walked up to were he was sitting down.

“Mr. Nick? Are you still angry at Mr. Edgeworth?” she asked.

He sighed. In all honesty, he was still angry with him, for seemingly throwing it all away only to return and act as though nothing happened. And on top of dealing with that, Maya was still kidnapped, and he was struggling with a lead that would help him win that acquittal for Engarde. But he wasn’t going to unpack all of that to Pearl, she was too young to need to be burdened by his overcomplicated feelings.

He smiled, though he wasn’t feeling up to it. “Yeah Pearls, everything’s alright now. I’m sorry about all that earlier, I hope I didn’t freak you out too much.”

“It was a little scary but I’m glad you are feeling better now! It’ll be easier to help save Mystic Maya when you’re not mad at your friend.”

He took a deep breath before finally standing up. He felt like this case alone has aged him three decades.

“Alright, come on Pearl, we have one more lead to follow and then I’ll get you some real food for dinner, how does that sound?”

He had to try and hold it together for both of their sakes.

…

Edgeworth watched Phoenix and the younger Fey child from inside the building, while also holding a half-melted bag of ice to his aching nose. He knew he fucked up his friendship with Phoenix but he somehow hadn’t realized it would be this bad. It almost seemed like there was more to the situation that he was missing pieces from, but he couldn’t seem to figure it out.

Gumshoe walked over to where Edgeworth was gazing out the window like a Victorian-era widow.

“How’s the nose holding up? It’s not broken is it?”

Edgeworth laughed sharply, “Gumshoe if it was broken I would not still be here holding a wet Ziploc bag.”

“Fair point.”

“My injured nose would not still be hurting if I had gotten to ice it earlier instead of being made to talk about emotions with Wright,” Edgeworth said very matter-of-factly.

Gumshoe at least had the decency to look sheepish, scratching the back of his own neck out of habit. “Was it that obvious?”

“Only because I know the kind of person you are, detective.”

“…So, how did it go?”

“You mean after he punched me in the face? Or perhaps after he told me he wished I’d stayed dead? I think it went well all things considered,” Edgeworth said sarcastically.

Gumshoe cringed, “Geez, seems like you have a lot of work to do, sir.”

Edgeworth sighed, “Gumshoe… in your honest opinion, do you really think this can be fixed?”

Gumshoe laughed, “Sir, I don’t think anything is beyond fixing. It’ll require effort on both parts, but I think you two could manage.”

“…Thank you.” While Edgeworth appeared mostly calm and collected, Gumshoe knew it was a façade. He noticed that Edgeworth’s hand that was unoccupied with an ice pack was absentmindedly tapping anxiously at the side of his leg. At least he wasn’t completely hiding his fears from the world anymore.

“Well I should probably get going, make sure everything is good for tomorrow’s case,” Gumshoe said, “One word of advice though sir? Maybe hold off on any more heart-to-hearts until this case is done. There’s… kind of a lot going on right now,” he said as though he knew something Edgeworth did not. So, he was right in that regard, maybe he would pull the information out of Gumshoe later, but he did not feel up to task right this second.

“Alright. Thank you, detective. I’ll be seeing you.”

Maybe this will give him time to figure out what the hell to actually say to Wright that could fix this.

Chapter Text

March 23, 2018 10:00 pm 

He hadn’t figured out a good time to talk with Phoenix yet. With how hectic the case had been, there just wasn’t a good time. Even now, after the case was over, it seemed like there was still never a good enough time. He shared a brief exchange with Wright, but there was so much more he wanted to say, that he couldn’t say with everyone around. He even accompanied them to the hotel for a ‘celebration feast’ as Maya put it. He had to leave soon after when he realized that Franziska still had the ‘Gumshoe tracker’ on her, and was heading to the airport. He was not going to let her make the same mistake he did, running away from her problems like that. And he told her as such; that he learned there was more to prosecuting than winning or proving yourself as a von Karma. It’s a hard pill to swallow, after being told the opposite all these years, but hopefully Franzy will have an easier time adjusting than he did.

After making sure she got on her plane safely, he gave Gumshoe a call.

“Hey Mr. Edgeworth, what’s up?”

“I just finished sending off Prosecutor von Karma to her plane, and…” why was he even calling? This seemed childish, “I was checking if I should meet you all back at the hotel.”

“Well pal, you can if you want. If you’re looking for Wright though, he just left to take the Fey girls’ home so they could rest. Lord knows they need it, after the last few days they had.”

“Bold of you to assume I’m looking for him.”

“Ya know, for a lawyer you sure are a bad liar.”

He sighed, “I don’t want to give you the satisfaction of being correct. Thank you anyways, Gumshoe.”

Edgeworth ultimately decided to visit Wright at his apartment. Part of him was sure that he had terrible timing to go and drop in on him unannounced and have a heart-to-heart with him now, after the day they all had. But he was also sure that the longer he let this go, the more unrecoverable it would be. He had already left him in the loop for a year, no longer.

He made his way to the other man’s apartment, based on muscle memory from the last time he visited. He felt just as anxious knocking on his door as he did the first time, though these nerves were more somber in origin.

It took a while for Wright to answer, and he was just about to write him off as resting and leave him be, when he finally came to the door.

He looked tired and almost surprised to see his guest.

“Is this a bad time?”

“Depends. What do you want, Edgeworth?”

He fiddled with the button on the sleeve of his jacket. “To talk. I think…I think we both need this.”

Phoenix sighed, and moved aside to let him in.

“Maya and Pearls are asleep right now in the other room so... let’s try to not erupt into a screaming match please.”

"Alright,” he says following him inside the apartment. “How are they doing?”

“They’re fine,” he said curtly, before practically collapsing back into the couch, “Can we cut to the chase please? I’m tired and I’ve been running on fumes for the last several days.”

He nods and follows his lead, sitting awkwardly on the couch next to him, feeling like an intruder in his home. “I’m… not even sure where to begin, if I’m honest,” Edgeworth says, tapping his hands nervously.

“You could start with why it took you so long to tell me you weren’t actually dead,” Wright said very bluntly.

“…. I,” he stops and takes a deep breath to collect his thoughts, “I was ashamed. I was in a very dark place and I didn’t want you to see me like that. By the time I was starting to…improve, it had been long enough that… I knew I had fucked things up but I was not brave enough to face you yet.”

“What changed?”

He let out a sad, brisk laugh at this. “I found what I was searching for.”

“You mean, ‘the truth’?”

“The other day, I asked you why you stand in court and defend your client. Is your answer now the same as it was then?”

Phoenix said nothing at this, thinking intently.

“I mentioned this earlier, after the case, but when I left the Prosecutor’s Office, I realized why I stand in the courtroom. It used to be for inconsequential reasons, to win, to prove myself worthy to measure up to von Karma, but I learned the hard way that those do not matter. What matters is the pursuit of the truth, no matter what. And I realized to do this… it has to be a mutual effort.” He glanced at Phoenix for a brief moment, before looking away, “I realized the importance of trust. Both parties must trust each other to work together and find the truth. And I realized that…I trust you. Wholly and Completely. And to be honest, that realization terrified me.”

Phoenix said nothing so he continued, “That’s… part of the reason it took me so long to reach out to you. I was scared to admit that, to you or to myself. Especially after knowing I broke your trust when I…left”

“Is that why everyone else seemed to know you were alive, and not me? Because you were scared?”

“What do you mean by that?”

“When you showed up at Criminal Affairs. Gumshoe and Franziska did not seem at all surprised to see you not dead.”

Edgeworth seemed shocked to hear this, almost like he didn’t notice. “Gumshoe did know. But mainly because I needed intel. I instructed him not to tell anyone, though knowing him, I know he wanted to tell you. He tried multiple times to get me to contact you throughout the last year. I almost did a few times, but never had the guts to face you.”

Now it was Phoenix’s turn to be shocked.

Miles continued, “Franziska… I spoke to her once, when I first left California. It was completely accidental but... it was part of the reason she decided to come here to prosecute. To ‘avenge my lost honor’. She didn’t know I was coming back. I’m not sure she expected me to come back at all. When I last saw her, I was still… uh…mildly suicidal.”

Phoenix looked jarred at this revelation. “Is that also why you left?”

“Phoenix, would a guy just quitting his job leave a note saying he chooses death?”

“Not normally, no. That’s what I originally thought you did, but when I recently found out you weren’t actually dead I just… assumed you were being a bit dramatic,” he shamefully admitted.

Miles laughed at this, “I mean… you’re not wrong. It was both to be fair. Yes, I was fully intending on killing myself, but I may have been a bit… over the top. I felt like I had to be in order to commit to it and not ‘chicken out’ for lack of a better term. And in the end, I still couldn’t decide if I should… Do you remember what we talked about with Ms. Andrews?”

“You’re giving me tonal whiplash, you’re gonna need to be more specific.”

“Her dependent nature is what I was referring to. I realized fairly recently that may also apply to myself.”

Phoenix stayed quiet, gesturing for him to continue.

“I have always heavily modeled myself after the important figures in my life. Even as a kid. Partially wonder if that is due to… you know. I think it was more of a masking technique than anything. Kids already learn correct behaviors by copying, I suppose I took that to the extreme. And when my father died, I latched onto von Karma’s mannerisms to survive. And with that gone as well, I didn’t know what to do with myself. I had been someone else for so long that I didn’t know who I was, other than a demon prosecutor. And I couldn’t stand for that.”

“That... actually makes sense, in a weird way. Like you lost your sense of purpose in life?” Phoenix clarified.

“Yes, exactly. I had been struggling with that feeling ever since I found out the truth that December, but the incident with Damon Gant certainly... pushed me over the edge. It was too much like him... like how von Karma treated me.”

Phoenix didn’t have much to say in response to all this, just nodding and absorbing the information. What could he even say?

Edgeworth cleared his throat, “Do you... have any more questions for me?”

Phoenix tried to think, of anything. He had lots of thoughts swirling around in his head, and none of them would stick. What did end up slipping out of his mouth was, “Do you hate me for what I said the other day? When I said it would be better if you were dead?”

When Edgeworth had still said nothing an entire minute later, Phoenix tries to take it back.

“Nevermind, it’s a dumb question, you don’t have to answer-”

“Phoenix,” he says, clutching the side of his arm to steel his nerves as he turns to look the other man in the eyes, “I don’t think I could ever hate you. I never have and I never will.”

The emotions on Phoenix’s face are a lot to try and get a read on, and Miles is not sure if he took a step too far.

“Sorry.”

“Don’t,” Phoenix says, coming out sterner than he intended, “Don’t apologize for that, you fucking nut. Just… just give me a second ok?”

Miles nods, and lets the other man process his emotions. He sees Phoenix sit there hunched over with the palms of his hands on his eyes, fingers curled into his hair. Miles wonders how soft his hair would feel like, or if its textured from hair product- He stops that thought in its tracks. Not the time or place gay-boy, fucking focus.

Miles can’t help the build-up of anxious energy he feels, and stims silently in front of Phoenix. It starts as just shaking his leg, but goes on to flapping his hand, trying to do something with this emotional release. It’s not like he hasn’t done this in front of Wright before, but it still feels foreign and wrong to do in front of others after years and years of hiding. He sees this as progress.

Phoenix finally speaks up, still in that hunched over position. “Something that’s been weighing on my mind recently is… I told you the other day that I thought it would be better if you were dead. I wanna apologize for that…I did miss you. Like a lot. And I really was not dealing with you being gone very well. So, when I saw you again I just. Snapped. You couldn’t have known at the time that I was already dealing with the kidnapping and all that but the timing was not ideal and I let my emotions get the better of me. I am sorry for hitting you, and saying those things. I think… I don’t think I’m still angry with you. But I do still feel… Let down, I guess? Betrayed seems kinda harsh,” ‘Heartbroken?’ Phoenix’s brain supplies. He does not say it out loud.

“I don’t know… but I am still hurt. But if there’s one thing I gained from this case, it’s that. I trust you too Miles. Even after all of that anger and hurt and leaving me in the dark. Somehow, I still trust you. Despite my better judgement.”

He looks over at Miles, who is shaking and rubbing his eyes. He looks away, gives him some privacy.

Miles speaks up, “I was so worried I had fucked everything up.”

“What do you mean?”

That’s a great question. What did he mean by that?

“Our...” their what? What were they? Partnership didn’t seem right, relationship seemed too frightening, “Our friendship, as it were, was not built on the most stable foundations. I guess I feared that I had fucked up and thrown that all away when I left.”

“Huh,” Phoenix supplied, “I mean. I don’t think our friendship is exactly as we left it. But nothing is unfixable. And I think what we are doing here, right now, is the start of fixing this,” he says, gesturing between the two of them.

Miles sniffles and looks over at him, his eyes tinged red. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

“That’s my name, don’t wear it out,” he says with a deadpan delivery, musting enough energy out for a shitty joke.

Miles snorts. “You’re incorrigible.”

“I thought I was Wright.”

“Fuck off,” he says through laughter. Phoenix joins him. It feels good to laugh, as if the weight has been lifted from both their backs.

As their laughter trails off, they sit in silence for a second. Not the heavy oppressive kind, but smooth and light. Peaceful. Phoenix knows he hasn’t felt this calm in days, hell maybe longer.

Miles is quiet, save for him wringing his hands together. Phoenix can tell the other man wants to say something, and is planning his words carefully in his head.

“I uh… I know you had a lot of questions for me regarding my…disappearing act, as it were. But I did want to check how you were doing after all…this. The kidnapping, the case, me. I'm sure it was not an easy ordeal. Are you doing ok, emotionally?”

Sorta what he was expecting. Still no idea how to answer that.

“I'm not as bad as I could be, all things considered,” he says with a heavy sigh, “Not an easy ordeal’ is putting it real fuckin lightly. But… I don’t know. I feel like there was more I could’ve done to prevent this from happening or at least speed things by quicker. But at least it’s over…”

“True. I mean, you must try and remember too that you cannot change the past. Accepting that what you did in the moment was the best you could do with the knowledge and capabilities you had at the time is all you can do.”

“Sounds like you’re speaking from experience,” Phoenix chuckles.

“Lots of experience and therapy. You should try it sometime, a halfway decent therapist works wonders,” Miles quips back.

“One more high-stakes case involving someone I care about and I’ll have enough holes on my trauma punch card to get a buy-one-get-one therapy session.”

Edgeworth laughs at that, briefly compartmentalizing the fact that he was on the list of “people Phoenix Wright cares about” to rotate in his brain later.

“Crazy terrifying shit aside, I’m mostly just tired. I feel like every nerve in my body has been on edge for days now,” Phoenix adds.

“Ah... understandable. Hopefully my intrusion hasn’t kept you up,” Miles says, a bit self-conscious about the timing of his visit now.

“No no, you’re fine. Honestly I am glad we had this discussion now, maybe I can actually sleep now that I’ve gotten some of this off my chest. Besides I’m not even tired,” he gets out before his body betrays him with a yawn. Damn tired ass vessel of meat and bones…

“Well that last part was definitely a lie, so I’ll take that as my cue to leave,” Miles says, getting up and heading towards the door, “I am glad we had this conversation as well.”

“Of course. Here let me walk you to the door,” Phoenix says, getting up as well. Miles thought it a little silly that he escort him out less than 10 feet to the exit of his apartment but the gesture was sweet.

 As Phoenix opened the door for the exiting man, Miles stepped out into the hallway before turning around. “Thank you again for hearing me out. I…appreciate it, more than you know.”

“Yeah, no problem. I’ll be seeing you around.”

“Likewise,” Miles says before stepping away.

Phoenix goes to go back inside but hesitates, and calls out, “Hey Miles?”

He stopped, and turned around again, gesturing for him to continue.

“I really have missed you. I’m glad you’re back.”

Miles smiles back at him, the warmest, most genuine smile he has probably done in a long time.

“I missed you too, Phoenix,” he dart his eyes away as he feels the lightest blush tickle his cheeks, “I’ll be seeing you later,” he says before stepping away down into the stairwell.

…

If Miles Edgeworth skips down the apartment buildings stairs two at a time, no one’s around to see it. He manages to resist the urge to prance around like a school girl while getting to his car. But his car is his domain. Whatever lovey-dovey pop album he started blasting on the way home while having one hand on the steering wheel and one hand flapping at the speed of sound, is between him, his car, and whatever god it’s most convenient to pray to at that moment.

Things are better. They are not as they were, they never will be. But they will get better.

…

Phoenix Wright shut the door to his apartment, resting his hand on the doorknob for a minute.

“I missed you too, Phoenix.”

He needed a fucking drink. As headed for his kitchen, the last hour replayed itself in his brain. As tired as he was, he knew he would not sleep at this rate between his thoughts racing and sleeping on the couch (He let Maya and Pearl have his bed, of course). So he popped open a beer to nurse as he decompressed, crashing on the couch watching the tv on a low volume. Not enough booze to get crazy, hopefully enough to get him drowsy.

He doesn’t know when the last time he saw Miles smile like that was. Come to think of it, it was probably when they were kids. He can’t stop thinking about it. Bits and pieces of their conversation rotate in his mind but he keeps returning to that smile. Not that smug little smirk (though he didn’t hate that one. The sight of it filled him with either laughter or rage depending on the context), but the look of genuine fondness. Something in him was thrilled to be on the receiving end of that emotion from him.

As he finished his drink and attempted to get comfortable enough on the couch to sleep, his mind had yet to cease thinking about Miles.

“I missed you too, Phoenix.”

Followed by the sight of blush creeping up on the other man’s cheeks. He couldn’t help but think it was…

It was cute.

He couldn’t tell if the heat he felt in his face was from the beer or his own blushing. He hoped it wasn’t the latter, though he knew his hopes were a futile effort.

Fuck. That sounds like a tomorrow Phoenix problem.

As he drifts off into a sleep of mild back aches, a final thought rings clear in his head.

Things are better. They are not as they were, they never will be. But they will get better.